Seven miles from Roswell, New Mexico, a wetland shouldn’t exist, but it does

Bitter Lake sits where desert meets plains

You can drive seven miles northeast of Roswell, New Mexico, and land in a wetland that has no business existing in the middle of the desert.

Red-rimmed bluffs frame the water, and the Pecos River keeps the whole place green while everything around it turns brown. Tens of thousands of birds show up every fall, and dragonflies fill the air every summer.

Below the surface, something even stranger waits in the sinkholes.

The wetlands that should not exist here

Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge sits about seven miles northeast of Roswell, in Chaves County, New Mexico.

You’re standing right where the Chihuahuan Desert runs into the Southern Plains, two different landscapes meeting in one spot.

The Pecos River cuts through the refuge, and groundwater along with managed flooding keeps the wetlands full when the desert around them dries out. Red-rimmed bluffs and plateaus rise along the water’s edge.

The refuge stands as one of the most important wetland systems tied to the Pecos River.

How a salty lake became a refuge

The refuge got its start in 1935 as the Carlsbad Bird Refuge, a spot set aside to give migrating birds a safe place to spend the winter. Two years later, in 1937, the name changed to Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

That name goes back to early explorers, who looked at the lake’s salty, alkaline water and called it bitter.

Today the refuge covers 24,563 acres of desert, wetland, and grassland, all protecting the birds it was created for.

More than 26,000 cranes fill the sky

Sandhill cranes start showing up in October, and by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, more than 26,000 of them fill the wetlands.

Thousands of snow geese arrive right along with them, crowding the same ponds and marshes. Some birds stick around into January before they finally move on.

The best time to catch them is at dawn or dusk, when the whole flock lifts off at once or drops back down to settle for the night. The sky turns loud and full.

Home to over 350 species of birds

More than 350 bird species have turned up here over the years, and the refuge carries recognition as a Globally Important Bird Area.

Wading birds like great blue herons and white-faced ibis pick through the shallow water, while shorebirds including snowy plovers, black-necked stilts, and avocets work the mudflats.

Overhead, red-tailed hawks and harriers hunt across the open grasslands, watching for movement below. You could spend a whole morning here and still not see them all.

More than 100 kinds of dragonflies

Bitter Lake holds one of the most diverse dragonfly and damselfly populations found anywhere in North America.

The refuge has recorded more than 100 species so far, with numbers peaking in July and August, when the air over the ponds fills with them.

A special viewing area sits right along the driving route, so you don’t need to leave your car to get a good look. Keep an eye out for the common green darner, one of the more colorful species you might spot.

Take the 8-mile loop through the refuge

The refuge’s auto tour loop runs about eight miles on gravel, and it’s a one-way drive, so you won’t backtrack. Along the way, you’ll pass ponds, marshes, and a handful of overlooks worth stopping for.

Give yourself one to two hours depending on how many times you pull over. Small parking areas sit near the trailheads and overlooks for a closer look.

Goose Hill Overlook is the one to save time for, since it looks down over a pond where geese gather on the water.

Three short trails worth the walk

The Desert Uplands Trail sits less than a mile south of the visitor center, and it’s one of the best spots to watch dragonflies.

The Dragonfly Overlook Trail loops around an old oxbow cut off from the Pecos River, though it closes some mornings in fall and winter, so check before you go.

The Butterfly Trail winds past native desert plants where quail and songbirds tend to show up. A hike and bike trail runs through the refuge’s northern section, with benches along the way.

Dozens of sinkholes hide beneath the surface

Underground, water slowly dissolves gypsum in the soil, and over time that process carves out deep sinkholes across the refuge.

Dozens of them sit filled with water, some fed by underground springs that keep them surprisingly deep. The water in these pools runs salty, and that salt supports creatures you won’t find in many other places.

Strangest of all, a type of marine algae usually found in Gulf of Mexico lagoons lives in some of these desert pools, hundreds of miles from any ocean.

Meet the fish and snails found nowhere else

The Pecos pupfish and Pecos gambusia, two rare fish, swim in these waters and live almost nowhere else on earth. Tiny snails such as the Roswell springsnail depend entirely on this area’s spring-fed pools to survive.

Noel’s amphipod, a freshwater shrimp barely big enough to see, lives tucked away in the sinkholes. Beyond the water, the refuge is home to 59 mammal species along with dozens of reptiles and amphibians.

If you want a closer look, the visitor center keeps a magnifying glass on hand.

Free to enter, open every day

The refuge doesn’t charge an entrance fee, and it stays open every day from sunrise to sunset. About a mile along the driving loop, you’ll find a wheelchair-accessible bird blind that looks out over a large pond.

Cranes, egrets, and ducks tend to gather right there, so it’s worth the stop even if you don’t plan to walk far.

Wildlife shows up most in the early morning and late afternoon, so plan your visit around those hours if you can.

Join the dragonfly festival each September

Each September, the refuge teams up with Friends of Bitter Lake to host the Dragonfly Festival, and it’s free to attend.

Experts lead guided tours where you can get up close with dragonflies and damselflies in a way you can’t on a regular visit.

Early morning birdwatching tours run alongside the insect tours, so you can fit in both if you time it right.

The evening before the main event, there’s a presentation called Dragonflies Vs Damselflies to help you tell them apart.

Visiting Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico

You’ll find Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge at 4200 East Pine Lodge Road in Roswell, New Mexico, about seven miles northeast of downtown.

The refuge stays open every day from sunrise to sunset, and there’s no charge to get in.

That makes it easy to swing by more than once, whether you come for the crane migration in fall, the dragonflies in summer, or just to walk the trails and take in the sinkholes.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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