For Your Safety

The desert can be dangerously hot and dry. Be sure to carry and drink plenty of water, use sunscreen, and wear light-colored clothing, including a hat. Watch out for stinging insects, venomous reptiles, and thorny plants. Avoid putting your hands and feet under rocks or into crevices and plants, and watch where you step or sit.

Help Protect the Refuge

• Hiking, photography, and wildlife observation are permitted on the refuge, except within the waterfowl management units and staff residence area.
• Travel in wilderness areas is by foot or horseback only.
• Hunting and fishing are permitted, according to state regulations, in some areas. Please contact the Visitor Center for more information.
• Unconfined domestic animals are not allowed. Pets are permitted only if under your control at all times.
• Boating is permitted in some areas. Special regulations apply. Please contact the Visitor Center for more information.
• Vehicles are permitted on designated roads only. All off-road vehicle travel is prohibited. All motorized vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles, and all operators must be licensed and insured for highway driving. Speed limit is 25 mph unless posted otherwise.
• It is illegal to remove, deface, or damage rocks, minerals, semi-precious stones, Indian artifacts, paleontological objects, or objects of antiquity.
• Collecting, possessing, molesting, disturbing, injuring, destroying, removing, or transporting any plant or animal or part thereof (alive or dead) is prohibited, except for legally taken game.
• Camping is not permitted on the refuge.
• Fires are not permitted on the refuge. 
• Persons possessing, transporting, or carrying firearms on National Wildlife Refuges must comply with all provisions of state and local law. Persons may only use (discharge) firearms in accordance with refuge regulations (50 CFR 27.42 and specific refuge regulations in 50 CFR Part 32).
• Possession or use of crossbows or bow and arrows is prohibited except when used for approved hunting.