Just north of Las Vegas, a spring-fed oasis opens the door to one of America’s great wild places. Corn Creek is the welcoming gateway to Desert National Wildlife Refuge, a 1.6-million-acre refuge — the largest wildlife refuge outside Alaska — created in 1936 to protect the desert bighorn sheep and the largest intact habitat for the species in the Mojave Desert.
Families can start at the Corn Creek Visitor Center and wander a network of short, easy trails totaling about 1.5 miles: the Bighorn, Birdsong, Coyote, Jackrabbit and Whispering Ben loops. The trails and restrooms at the visitor center are open daily from sunrise to sunset, making this an easy morning or late-afternoon outing. Shaded paths, ponds and spring water draw wildlife close, and Corn Creek is celebrated as one of the best spots in Southern Nevada to see migratory birds.
The refuge stretches across the Mojave and Great Basin deserts through seven life zones, home to more than 500 species of plants, more than 320 species of birds, 52 species of mammals and 32 species of reptiles. Bring water, hats and binoculars, let the kids look for bighorn sheep country beyond the oasis, and enjoy a calm, happy side of Las Vegas that feels a world away.
Photo: Joanna Gilkeson / U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, via Wikimedia Commons
