bitter lake national wildlife refuge

The key to Bitter Lake is arrive in the afternoon and watch the birds come in for the night. There's ducks, geese and also thousands of sand hill cranes. Good roads to drive thru and find and nice spot to watch them flock to their evening roost.

We saw very few birds but enjoyed the drive through the refuge on the wildlife road. The refuge looks like a great place to see birds at the right time of year.

We went mid-day. The walks are short but beautiful and very easy to walk. Only the Butterfly trail would be difficult for folks who have trouble with rough terrain or stairs but still very easy trail to walk and only 0.2 miles long. The driving route is about 6 miles. There's hunting allowed, so be mindful of that. Lots of cool birds to see that I've never seen anywhere else in NM. Free to the public.

It's just a dried up, withered piece of land. Nothing of attraction there to my way of thinking. Easy enough to drive through and see most of it.

Fell upon this wonderful birder's paradise after leaving Bottomless Lakes State park. The wildlife auto road bringing you around to the cranes,ducks and geese was a pleasant drive. Well maintained and beautiful natural setting. Well come back for sure.

A different sort of park. Seems to be primarily of interest to bird watchers. There were an awful lot of birds there when I went. There is a dirt road you can cruise around the entire park, and it's free.

A thrill to watch thousands of cranes coming in to roost after out feeding during the day. Sunset is the time to go. Dress warm!

We weren't sure what to expect. But this surpassed my expectations! We arrived around 2:15 and after spending almost 45 minutes in the beautiful visitors center, headed out on the tour loop. OMG, when we stopped at the Crane overlook, the sounds were amazing! Hundreds of cranes coming in along with so many other species! You could sit there for hours. Don't miss out on this nature experience!

We had an enjoyable few hours here. Didn't know what to expect but we saw cranes, tortoise and dragonfly. The ranger was knowledgeable and recommended where to go, what to look for and when to see things.

Open 8am to 4pm (Mon-Fri) Bitter Lake Refuge is a wonderful place in Roswell away from the alien stuff. Visited early in the morning and saw lots of birds including the migrating White Pelicans. There are more than 100 species of dragonflies & damselflies, and it's considered one of the most diverse populations in North America. In the fall there is a Dragonfly Festival which we missed, but saw several Dragonflies still flying around.We took the 6-mile loop drive around the Pecos River wetland area and took lots of photos.

Stopped on my way to Ruidoso and spent a couple of hours at the refuge. Beautiful place, at least I thought so. Was there towards midday so animals were not roaming as they would be earlier or later in the day, but I certainly enjoyed the terrain. Did see some lovely birds, wetlands and enjoyed the various overlooks and observations places on the drive through. The interpretative center is very informative, nice ranger, no charge for the attraction. Gift shop available and donations accepted. I especially liked the observation deck at the center. Recommend a slow drive through, just enjoying the nature.

This is a great escape from the busy Main St. corridor and alien hoopla in Roswell - only about 7 miles east of the city. The visitor's center is a nice little oasis with interesting exhibits about the refuge and the animals in the area. They have driving, hiking, and biking trails, too. Wonderful way to spend about 1-4 hours in the Roswell area.

We stopped in Roswell (at a family member's request); while looking at the Atlas, we noticed the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge. We read up on it and discovered it had a year-round water source, which is different from most of the NWRs in our home state, and it was free! We went in the morning so that it would not be as hot. Like most NWRs, it is sort of in an isolated area. When we got there, we went to the visitor's center, and were greeted by a woman who seemed to be a very knowledgeable and helpful volunteer. We got a map and also borrowed one of the pairs of binoculars that they have on hand to loan out. Before going out, we went outside by a pond, near the building to put on sunscreen. The pond has a partial water supply from the building air conditioning, which drains out of a pipe to a concrete trough which drains down to the pond. While there, we saw a lizard, who stopped to get a drink from the trickle of water going down to the pond (and also ate ants off the sidewalk), a small jack rabbit, and some hummingbirds. We did the short trail (called the butterfly trail) right near the visitor's center and saw some dragonflies and a couple more gray lizards. When we went on the small deck overlooking the water, we noticed that a cottonwood tree had been planted to come up through the deck and provide shade. Unfortunately, the tree had grown and was being scraped/inhibited by the now too small hole in the deck; one of my few criticisms of the place. Upon leaving the visitor center, we looked at the map and decided to turn left on the road instead of going straight; the reasoning being that the road to the left went past some water that came to the roadside rather than having vegetation between us and the water. The road went in a circle, so we knew we would see everything before it was over. Along the way, we saw three red winged blackbirds; two females and a male that was trying to get the females interested. We looked through the binoculars, and it was an interesting sight with his red epaulets flying around. Halfway through the drive is a trail called the Oxbow Trail. It is 1.75 miles long, and we did not want to do the whole thing, but we were game for some of it. We saw some coots, and there was big evidence of a recent flash flood that had washed the land and toppled a wooden structure that had a map of the refuge on it. (We found out later the flash flood had come through two days before.) With the earth being still damp, we saw all kinds of animal tracks--especially deer and fox. We also found quite a few shot gun shells on a small beach like area, which we picked up and discarded later. Lastly, we went on the short desert upland trail, and saw a perfect desert wonderland---because of the rain, all the cactus were in bloom. We also saw another jackrabbit and some more gray lizards scurrying around. At the composting toilets, we found that someone had discarded some bags of fast food. We decided to put that in our bag with the other discards, but got a surprise--the bag that had the french fries in it felt heavy, and to our surprise, there was a wild mouse trapped inside. We put it outside and it ran off! As you can see, we are nature lovers, but if you are too, you will really enjoy this place. It is best to go early in the day; when it gets hot, the animals tend to hide and try to keep cool.We had no idea we would see so much when we came here! (BTW, there were snacks available at the visitor center.)

Don't forget to pack your favorite camera and telephoto lense. Come at the right time of day, during the high season, using your best equipment and capture the enchantment of New Mexico wildlife.

It was extremely windy when we went but other than this the park is laid out nicely. It is what it is, honestly. There are plenty of water fowl to see but you can easily see how the water is depleting and in the next decade it will probably be desert. We did see a snake and a roadrunner but no deer, bobcat, or badger. There are tracks showing they do live here but they would probably be closer to the ridge line. Other than this they are building pathways for future hikers, so something to look forward to. Tip: water and screen block. Enjoy!