Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
Crystal-clear water bubbling up from underground aquifers forms this key desert feature that supports much of the refuge’s rare life.
What is a spring?
These iconic alpine mammals, often seen near Logan Pass, are known for their curved black horns and sure-footed climbing.
What is a mountain goat?
At 282 feet below sea level, this salt flat is the lowest point in North America.
What is Badwater Basin?
This endangered bird winters at Aransas and is known for its tall stature, white plumage, and distinctive bugling call.
What is a whooping crane?
Mule deer, California condors, and this hooved-mammal with large curling horns can be seen within the park.
What is a bighorn sheep?
Over 26 of these can be found at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.
What are endemic species?
This large, pristine lake on the park’s west side is the deepest natural lake in Montana.
What is Lake McDonald?
These brief desert wildflower blooms occur after rare rainy winters and draw visitors from around the world.
What is a superbloom?
Aransas sits along this large Texas estuary system, an important nursery habitat for fish, crabs, and shrimp.
What is San Antonio Bay?
This steep trail with chains and dizzying drop-offs leads to one of the park’s most iconic viewpoints.
What is Angels Landing?
Ash Meadows stood at the confluence between these Native American lands.
What are the Newe and the Nuwuvi?
This scenic roadway crossing the park’s Continental Divide is often called one of the most beautiful drives in America.
What is Going-to-the-Sun Road?
This colorful hillside gets its name from mineral oxidation creating bands of red, yellow, and green.
What is Artist's Palette?
Aransas protects a mix of coastal prairie, oak woodland, and this tidal habitat dominated by cordgrass and influenced by daily saltwater flooding.
What is a salt marsh?
Carving the main canyon of Zion, this river continues on to join the Colorado River system.
What is the Virgin River?
The Ash Meadows speckled dace belong to this family of fish.
What are minnows?
This famous trail leads hikers to a turquoise glacial lake framed by the Grinnell and Salamander Glaciers.
What is Grinnell Glacier Trail?
These rocks at Racetrack Playa seem to move on their own.
What are sailing stones?
Visitors often climb this 35-foot structure within the refuge for panoramic views of marshes, oak mottes, and coastal prairie.
What is Heron Flats Observation Tower?
This famous hike follows a river through towering canyon walls, often requiring visitors to wade through water.
What is The Narrows?
Many of the refuge’s wetlands are fed by groundwater emerging from this vast regional aquifer system underlying southern Nevada and eastern California.
What is the Death Valley regional flow system?
For decades, this system was the only major transportation to Glacier National Park.
What is the Great Northern Railway?
This location is where molten lava came into contact with ground water, creating steam which produced enough pressure to explode through the earth.
What is Ubehebe Crater?
The refuge lies along this major North American flyway, a migratory bird corridor stretching from Canada to Central and South America.
What is the Central Flyway?
This tunnel-pierced road climbs from the canyon floor to slickrock domes and desert scenery on the park’s east side.
What is the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway?