Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge

Muleshoe was established in 1935, in the depths of the Dust Bowl, as a refuge for migratory birds on the Southern Plains, making it the first national wildlife refuge in Texas. It was created at a moment when the prairies of the region were blowing away in the great dust storms, and the idea of protecting habitat and water for wildlife carried real urgency. Much of its early work, including buildings and water structures, was done by Depression-era conservation crews.

The land itself is part of the Llano Estacado, the vast staked plain named by early Spanish travelers for its featureless, table-flat expanse. This was Comanche country, the heart of the Southern Plains where the Comanche and, before them, the Apache followed the buffalo across the grasslands. The playa lakes were vital sources of water in an arid land, known to Native peoples and later to ranchers, and they remain the reason wildlife concentrates here.

The refuge is best known for its sandhill cranes, which pour in by the tens of thousands in a good winter, one of the largest concentrations anywhere. The cranes roost overnight on the shallow water of the playa lakes, safe from predators, then fly out at dawn to feed in the surrounding fields, returning at dusk in long, calling skeins that fill the sky. The sound of a crane roost, a rolling, bugling chorus from thousands of birds, is unforgettable.

The whole spectacle depends on water. In wet years the playas fill and the cranes come in force; in drought years the lakes go dry and the birds scatter elsewhere. So a winter visit is a bit of a gamble on the weather, but when the water and the cranes align, few wildlife experiences in Texas rival it. Dawn and dusk, when the birds move between roost and field, are the times to be there.

Beyond the cranes, the refuge is home to a broad cast of shortgrass-prairie wildlife. Prairie dog towns dot the grassland, their burrows and lookouts supporting a whole community of dependent species, from burrowing owls to hawks and coyotes that hunt them. Pronghorn, mule deer, and jackrabbits range the open plains, and the refuge is a stronghold for grassland birds that are declining across much of their range.

The playa lakes, when full, draw waterfowl and shorebirds in addition to the cranes, and raptors work the skies above the prairie dog towns year round. The mix of grassland, seasonal wetland, and the towns of burrowing rodents makes Muleshoe a rich place for wildlife watching, a green and living pocket in a landscape that can otherwise seem endless and empty.

Winter is the marquee season, the time of the sandhill cranes and, with them, of wintering hawks, eagles, and waterfowl. Cold, clear days on the high plains, with cranes filling the sky at dawn and dusk, are what most visitors come for.

Spring and fall bring migration, with waves of birds passing through and the prairie greening or fading with the seasons. Summer is hot and dry on the exposed plains, the quietest time, though the prairie dogs and resident wildlife carry on and the huge skies are always a draw. In any season this is remote country, so a visit rewards preparation, patience, and a willingness to slow down and watch the wide land come alive.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.