Resting on the banks of the Pecos River in two separate sections of central Chaves County, Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife and wetland haven for a diverse variety of mammals, birds, fish, and insects. Established in 1937 to provide a habitat for thousands of migrating sandhill cranes and waterfowl, Bitter Lake is one of the most biologically important wetland areas in the region.

Straddling the Pecos River where the Chihuahuan Desert meet the Southern Plains, the refuge is home to a variety of lush water habitats surrounded by a dry, desert environment. The precious water systems attract a plethora of unique and rare fauna and flora such as the Pecos pupfish, Noel's amphipod, green throat darter, and the Roswell spring snail, as well as more than 80 species of dragonflies. Mammals and reptiles that can be found in the sand dunes, native grasslands, and red-rimmed plateaus include scaled quail, roadrunners, and horned lizards.

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