alamosa national wildlife refuge

Early morning trip to the wildlife refuge was very peaceful and quiet. The birds were out in the frosted reeds, and we saw a bald eagle too! Recommend this quick loop through an intriguing ecosystem.

This large open space with plenty of walking or just drive through. We saw lots of birds and waterfowl. We lived about a mile away from it. Sometimes the road can get pretty sandy and rough.

We visited while we were vacationing in Alamosa over Fourth of July. I had read about the refuge on the internet before we went, and I was disappointed with the reality. The visitor center was closed. We drove around the scenic loop drive in a passenger car, and I did enjoy driving through the marshy sea of grass with mountains on the horizon, but the road is not paved and it was dusty and bumpy. The interpretative signs along the drive were faded out and difficult or impossible to read. We never located the overlook platform that was supposed to be there. We saw a few waterfowl, Red-wing Blackbirds, and a hawk.

I drove all the way out here and there really wasn't much to see. The visitor center is rarely open, I've heard. Bathrooms really stink. And avoid in the spring and summer. In the spring the wind is brutal, blows you around, it's really strong because there isn't anything to block the wind. And in the summer the mosquitos and unbelievably bad! Winter might be nice but it is so cold. I prefer the Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge where there are a large amount of birds year round.

Zoom in on the photo, it clearly stated on the posted sign in Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge, 'Water levels now watched', it's shocking to see the huge difference between the riparian refuge on the sign, and the actual dry, desert like refuge, I felt sorry for all the soon to arrive migrating birds, where are the water that's supposedly watched NOW!

I want to know why the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge is totally DRY! If the official sign posted at the refuge claiming the water levels now WATCHED! Who's doing the watching? I failed to see any one of the over 200 bird species and any wildlife, this 11,169 acre Refuge WON'T be able to provide crucial feeding, resting, and breeding habitat for migrating birds, if it's DRY! Bring back the water level NOW, the migrating season is starting, please!!!! Visited Sept. 30, 2014

This is easy to find, easy roads in there, all kinds of animals. Good variety of birds, I've seen pheasant & wild turkey. You'll see here & there deer, elk, antelope. Sometimes I hear you see nothing but, it's worth it to find out. They keep it clean too.

We arrived not in a good season to really see any birds but we did see a few things a bitten, Swanson's hawk, vesper sparrow. This would be a nice place to see birds in the right season. They have a walking trail which would be good. I walked the auto trail for a while as it followed water and I was able to get the bitten. There are many animal tracks in the mud so animals do exist there. Did see a huge jackrabbit

Note: This is a review of the Alamosa NWR as a bird watching destination. If birding is not your thing, this review may not be helpful.I had been waking up at 5:30 or 6 all week, so the plan was to bird before breakfast, then go back and check out of the hotel. But I didn't set my alarm, so of course, I ended up sleeping in until 8:30. As a result, I got to the refuge in the middle of the morning in the middle of August, with fairly low expectations. But it turned out that the big willows along the Rio Grande Trail had a pretty good variety of birds - often 2 - 3 species in a single tree. I ended up with about 2 dozen species total, including blue and black-headed grosbeak and lark sparrow, which the refuge list has as occasional. It gets hot in the summer, and there's not much shade, so I don't RECOMMEND getting there late, but I am glad I made the drive.

We made this our last stop of the day, so it was mid afternoon when we got there. That & the fact it was the middle of July made for some hot hiking. There's a trail along the Rio Grande we walked down, but the heat was making Scott cranky, so we turned back. The Rio Grande is a nice midsized stream at this point. I liked it. Good thing we brought bug spray though, or the deer flies would have carried us off! When we got back to the car, the visitor center was open so we stopped in. The old guy at the counter looked glad to have someone to talk to. He told us Spring was the best time to come & take the scenic drive. The VC was average. It does have flush toilets though, instead of the ever present pits. The scenic drive was, I want to say 3 miles. Don't quote me though. It was very nice & we did see a lot of birds. The first raptors too in Colorado. I wish I'd brought my bird book.

There is a nice gravel/dirt road through the wetlands. We were there at mid day and were the only people. We saw lots of water fowl and several other birds that were new to us. Lots of yellow headed blackbirds. It was fun to just go slowly, stop whenever we wanted to check out what was nearby. There are a few information signs. The visitor center is not much of anything. I thought they might have a handout on common birds seen but they didn't. Did see some cinnamon teals. The information pamphlet explains the wetlands. One picnic table in front of the visitor's center so we used that for our lunch. Peaceful spot and a short drive if you are interested at all in birds.

This drive is through marsh lands and there a lots of wetland birds to see. Quite a variety of ducks and songbirds. Nice drive in the evening if you like wildlife.

There are many ponds and we saw a few birds even at mid-day. These were some of the worst roads we've been on. Luckily the area is fairly flat, but wind and weather have taken their toll.

We visited here on a day the visitor's center was said to be open but it was closed as the volunteer did not show up. The visitor's center is now only open and staffed by volunteers due to sequestration. The refuge itself is interesting. The signs are worn out but still readable. The Rio Grande river is interesting to see and the bird life was plentiful. It is worth the drive if you like birds. Too bad this supposedly rich country cannot do better in funding sites such as this.

We went to this refuge twice while in town, once in the evening and once the next morning. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience. In the evening, we saw meadowlarks, yelow-headed blackbirds, hawks, cliff swallow, brewer's blackbird and a hunting bittern. The next morning, we added a Virginia rail, black-necked stilt, many white-faced ibis, and a snipe. Much more to see but we only did the auto loop and used the car as a blind.