1/7 Moapa Valley National WIldlife Refuge

It was a sunny but cool day today, so I headed out to get a propane refill and also visit this wildlife refuge.  There are actually four connected refuges, all focused on endangered fish and located in the driest of dry deserts.  Make sense?  The truth is that there are places in the desert where ancient springs provide water and where various versions of pupfish and dace have survived for millions of years. 

There are actually four connected federal wildlife refuges in the Mojave Desert, and I have already written about on in December--Ash Meadows.  And on Thursday, I will be stopping at another one, Pahranagat, on my way to my next campsite.  You can find out more about this refuge here:  https://www.fws.gov/refuge/moapa_valley/. There is no visitor center at Moapa, and it is open only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, during the winter months.  It is closed the rest of the year because of the heat.  

It was only about a 45 minute drive from Valley of Fire, and as I approached it, I could see what looked like an oasis in the desert with lots of palm trees.  I actually stopped right in the middle of the road to take this photo.

 

There was no one in the parking lot, so I had it all to myself.

You might have to enlarge this to read this sign, but basically it tells you that the thermal spring contains ancient water from underground rivers.  I will try to post portions so it is more readable. 

 

 

There used to be a swimming pool here until the federal government acquired the property.  They built in several windows and routed the stream past them so visitors could see the tiny endangered fish. 

There is at least one dace in this photo.  

 There are two hiding here.

I hiked up this path to a viewing area bench above the refuge.  The ranger drove by as I was sitting on a rock to rest down by the road and we chatted for a while.  The lady volunteer lives in that little house, and she also happened to stop by to tell the ranger to stop by to see her new motorhome.  You meet nice people in the strangest places!

Nice view of the small refuge and the desert valley.  

You can't see it clearly, but the spring originates in this small marshy area.

I am pretty sure these are California fan palms.  The native Americans ate the fruit and used them for many things.  Most of the palm trees you see today are Mexican fan palms and have a much thinner trunk.  California fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) have trunks that are 2-3' in diameter, grow up to 60' high, and are rare today.  (You can find them in Borrego Springs if you hike the oasis trail, which I have done and plan to do again this spring, except this time I will take my hiking stick and try not to fall into a cactus.)

See this article on fan palms:  https://www.desertusa.com/flora/california-fan-palm.html

As you can see, there is a lot more to southern Nevada than Las Vegas.  Ash Meadows is about an hour-and-a-half west of Las Vegas, Moapa Valley is about an hour north, and Pahranagat is about two hours north.  And Valley of Fire State Park is well worth a day trip when you are in this area.