Once land of Pueblo Peoples, today the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is an extremely important refuge in America's Southwest and offers a marvelous success story.
   Simply known as The Bosque to locals, the park borders the Chihuahuan Desert and receives its water from the Rio Grande River. Including three unique wilderness areas, Chupadera Peak, Indian Wells and Little San Pasqual, the refuge topography ranges from moist bottomlands to arid foothills and mountain regions. While only 3800 acres lie in the Rio Grande floodplain, an additional 9000 acres are irrigated to provide more wetlands. Upper elevations dictate a variety of habitats and more wildlife. Here, refuge visitors are thrilled to see mule deer, elk and coyotes. But more importantly the preserve is a temporary home for tens of thousands of migratory birds. Filling the skies, dense clouds of sandhill cranes and snow geese attract hundreds of sightseers. Friends of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge are especially proud of the Sandhill success story. Thriving in the refuge today, there were only 17 individual cranes in the area in 1940. Now, the wintering population of sandhills sees estimates over 17,000. Making a rare appearance, the never before seen (in the United States) rufous-necked wood-rail draws in birders from around the world.
   Primarily a day-use preserve with hiking and nature observation points spread throughout the refuge, visitors and photographers are especially captivated by the sunset fly ins and early morning fly outs, an exceptional refuge experience.

     Area Map