The park itself is very nice. You're a little close to the freeway (Great Basin Hwy - 93) going by but the noise is not overwhelming. If you want/need information from their Web site, click here. The following link will take you to the map of the Refuge. And if you need directions from Las Vegas, click this link, it will take you to Google Maps with directions.
If you'd like the KMZ (Google Earth) file, including the entrance and parking areas, click this link.
LAT and LON for the entrance: LAT: 37.316761 LON: -115.129754 (Make sure you always verify directions)
LAT: 37° 19' 0.3396'' N LON: 115° 7' 47.1144'' W
Pahranagat is a great refuge for animals. There are many hikes and several lakes and streams to see.
I visited the refuge in May of 2017, the weather was great, I needed neither AC or heat. It was a time for mosquitoes, so I recommend repellent of some kind.
As I mentioned, the views were fantastic. If you hike many of the trails around the refuge you will understand.
The majority of the wildlife here is birds, they are everywhere by the thousands. The North-most lake/pond was closed off to visitors because the majority of wildlife breeding takes place there. In the evening hours there were so many birds flying over the North lake it was incredible.
The picture above captures numerous birds in-flight catching insects as they swoop down to skim over the water and back into the air again; from my point-of-view there were several hundred birds in this small location of the North end towards the dusk hours.
The boardwalk or walkway between the Northern lake and Southern lake makes a great area for watching the waterfowl. They are not acclimated to people so they take off rather quickly.
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| Geese on the walkway |
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| Hawk |
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| Crow or Raven |
Above, a father goose leading goslings and the mother trailing looking back. As I wanted along the bank these geese took off towards the center of the lake. They obviously keep a sharp eye out for predators. Their behavior was quite interesting, as they swam to the center of the lake the father led the group, the goslings kept very close to the father and the mother trailed slightly and in as much of a straight line as possible to conceal the goslings. They didn't stop swimming until they felt comfortable I was not going to go after them.
I was lucky enough to catch view of a Beaver swimming along the edge. It was very stealthy and was dragging a long piece of lake-grass in its mouth. At first I thought it might have been a fishing line - the sun was reflecting off the water and was difficult to see. Through later pictures I was able to make out the item. Seeing a beaver was a big plus, it was the only non-flying mammal I found and I think the Beaver is less see then other animals.
Another final note about wildlife, while meandering around the lake there were many fish jumping out of the lakes, I presume a fisherman's dream (I don't care to fish). The lakes are open to fishing a few times during the year. Check the NWS Web site to find out more about the seasons.
Map
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| Google Earth Map Overview |
Click the map to enlarge. This image, from Google Earth, shows the upper and lower lakes and depicts some of the camping areas. There are several other lakes the further south you traverse; you can hike to them, but I recommend you use a vehicle as they are several miles away.
RV Sites
The area has 12 to 14 camping sites. The sites do not all accommodate recreational vehicles, several are for tents and some for cars. Additionally, some of the sites are multiple, for two of more RV's / cars. A number of the sites are very nice, somewhat secluded and a great way to relax. The area is rather busy on weekends and during the summer. There is also a lot across the freeway where you can park overnight (free) if the refuge is full so you can attempt to obtain a spot the next day.
The campground map gives a good depiction of the camping area and tells which types of vehicles, or non-vehicles, are accommodated.
Direct download of the PDF map is available here.
Map and information pulled from https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Pahranagat/map.html
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| Camping sites 1 through 11 |
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| Camping sites 12 to 14 |
Hiking
There exists very nice hiking around the lake. The weather can be very warm during the summer, so be prepared. The hike around the lake where you may camp is approximately three miles and not strenuous.
There are a number of rest areas and plenty of wildlife to view. You can also hike to the visitor center and the additional lakes to the South. The distance to the furthest lake from the camping area is approximately ten miles. The lower lakes can be hiked around and are full of wildlife, I highly recommend the hike - however, you should probably drive to the lower lakes.
There are additional hikes as well, which I have hiked, near the perimeter fence and takes you quite a ways off the beaten path, but if you're looking for more diversity and are willing to work at it, you will find them enjoyable. I did not provide GPS coordinates for the additional hikes here as I did not have a GPS at the time.
Scenery
While hiking, and depending on the time of year, there is much to see for scenery. Most of the following photos were taken on several of the trails.
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| Wildlife in the Southern-most lower lakes |
been to this place a few times, very nice.
ReplyDeleteNice are and info, thanks.
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