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| - My husband had visited here before, but today was my first time. Whether you are a tourist who is burned out from the Strip, or a local who is tired of desert scrub, you should swing by this place!
We did a loop as a day trip: N 95 to the Mt Charleston visitor center on Kyle Canyon Rd., then up into the mountains (pick a place to hike and/or have a picnic!). Across the mountain on Deer Canyon Rd. to the Desert View Overlook...spectacular. Down the mountain on Lee Canyon Rd. If you are lucky, you will see flowers, butterflies, deer, wild horses and burros (maybe even snow!) like we did today, and you will enjoy the coolness.
Then on the way back to the city, stop by this Refuge. (If its very hot, you will want to do it in reverse. The Refuge is at a much lower elevation, and opens at 8 am.) The Vegas Valley had hundreds of natural springs prehistorically. Tule Springs and the Springs Preserve celebrate them too, but they really are more in their "wild" state HERE. It looks and SOUNDS like a natural riparian area! I just sat in the shade of their large patio and enjoyed the sounds of peeper frogs, the buzz of dragonflies, and flowing water!!
The small interpretive center had some clever exhibits (Smell what a Bighorn sheep smells! Feel how hard it would be to have to carry those big horns on head!) as well as a short film about the rich habitat created by water in the desert. If you like going to the Wetlands park on the east side of Vegas, you will LOVE the quiet beauty of the Refuge. (Note: this review is only for the immediate area of the visitor center; not the gigantic backcountry of the Refuge.)
There are 2 other things you need to know about this day trip itinerary: first, all the stops I mentioned all fully accessible AND you can take your dogs on the walks. Second, they are all FREE!!! Where else ya gonna find that in Vegas, huh?!
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