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Friends of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio

4.8

#5 of 55 in Wildlife in New Mexico

Wildlife Area Nature / Park Must See

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Located on the northern edge of the Chihuahuan desert, the 57,331-acre refuge straddles the Rio Grande approximately twenty miles south of Socorro, New Mexico. The heart of the refuge is 8,000 acres of floodplain where the waters of the Rio Grande have been diverted to create extensive wetlands and agricultural lands. The rest of the refuge is made up of arid foothills and mesas, which rise to the Chupadera Mountains to the west and San Pascual Mountains to the east. Most of these arid uplands are protected as wilderness.

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Friends of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge Reviews

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TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

489 reviews

Google

4.8

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4.8

70,778 likes

• By GailCheryl

  A bird lovers dream. Flocks of quail all around the visitors center were so entertaining. The black-chinned hummingbirds, snow geese, ducks of every sort, great white heron, turtles, rabbits, and so m...  more »

• By Jakescase

  We visited this part of New Mexico on our western trip in March specifically to visit this Refuge. Even though the Sandhill cranes had recently travelled on, we could not have been disappointed. Saw c...  more »

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Google

• By Mary Shumate

  We fell in love with this place!! We took about 4 hours there but would have stayed longer if we'd made it there earlier. Take a very good camera and binoculars. They also rent binoculars. The staff couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful. We saw several bald eagles, young and mature, young golden eagles, hawks, deer, all kinds of geese, ducks and cranes. The most spectacular sight was snow geese coming in waves to land together. Will definitely do this again.

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• By Luke Frerichs

  I have heard of this place since I moved to NM, and I'm glad I got the chance to see it. It's hard to believe a place with that much water could be hiding just off the road. There are plenty of places to pull to the side of the road, and more trails than you could do in a day. Seeing the cranes at sunset was amazing. My only gripe is that I wish they allowed cyclists on the loop roads. The preserve really seems ideal for a gravel-bike exploration.

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