Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

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Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, established June 18, 1984, is located approximately 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas in the Amargosa Valley of southern Nye County, Nevada. To date, over 23,000 acres of spring-fed wetlands and alkaline desert uplands are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge provides habitat for at least 24 plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Four fish and one plant are currently listed as endangered.

This concentration of indigenous life distinguishes Ash Meadows NWR as having a greater concentration of endemic life than any other local area in the United States and the second greatest in all of North America. Ash Meadows provides a valuable and unprecedented example of desert oases that are now extremely uncommon in the southwestern United States.
The refuge is still in its developmental infancy. We are currently working on refuge interpretive planning, visit this site for more information. While many visitor facilities are being planned, relatively few presently exist. Be sure to bring plenty of water, sun screen, and hats during the hot summer months. Use extreme caution driving on and around the refuge during wet weather. Secondary roads quickly become flooded and impassable during/after rains.

Devil's Hole pupfish occur naturally only within Devil's Hole. This small, water-filled cavern is adminstered as a disjunct portion of Death Valley National Park. Two additional populations of Devil's Hole pupfish are managed within "refugia" on the refuge. For public safety, and to protect the fish, security fences are maintained around Devil's Hole and the refugia.

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