USFWS · Arizona, California

Cibola National Wildlife Refuge

Cibola National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge in the floodplain of the lower Colorado River between Arizona and California and surrounded by a fringe of desert ridges and washes. The refuge encompasses both the historic Colorado River channel as well as a channelized portion constructed in the late 1960s. Along with these main waterbodies, several important backwaters are home to many wildlife species that reside in this Yuma Desert portion of the Sonoran Desert. Because of the river's life-sustaining water, wildlife here survive in an environment that reaches 120 °F (49 °C) in the summer and receives an average of only 2 inches (5.1 cm) of rain per year.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Official page at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ↗
Cibola National Wildlife Refuge
Photo by Chris M. Morris, licensed CC BY 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons.
DesignationNational Wildlife Refuge
Managed byU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
StatesArizona, California
Size18,447 acres
FWS regionRegion 2
Center point33.30° N, 114.69° W
Night skyVery dark ground, a faint glow at most (Black Marble reading 27)

Boundary map

1 outline

Boundary, simplified to about 0.005 degrees

The outline is the agency boundary simplified for display, so small parcels and inholdings may not show. The agency page has the authoritative map.

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Cibola National Wildlife Refuge50°60°70°80°90°100°January: 0.53 inches of precipitationFebruary: 0.62 inches of precipitationMarch: 0.48 inches of precipitationApril: 0.09 inches of precipitationMay: 0.05 inches of precipitationJune: 0.01 inches of precipitationJuly: 0.26 inches of precipitationAugust: 0.40 inches of precipitationSeptember: 0.32 inches of precipitationOctober: 0.16 inches of precipitationNovember: 0.21 inches of precipitationDecember: 0.43 inches of precipitationJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 55.7°F averageFebruary: 59.3°F averageMarch: 65.6°F averageApril: 72.1°F averageMay: 80.3°F averageJune: 89.2°F averageJuly: 95.0°F averageAugust: 94.7°F averageSeptember: 88.0°F averageOctober: 75.4°F averageNovember: 62.9°F averageDecember: 54.0°F average0 in0.5 in1 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Blythe AP, 22 miles from the center point at 395 feet, station USW00023158 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 4 inches a year.

Large units span more than one climate. The station stands in for the center point, and the outer parts of the boundary can be warmer or colder.

Explore

Guidebooks for Arizona

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

  • Explore Tucson outdoors
    Karen Krebbs, 2017
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Camping Arizona
    Bruce Grubbs, 2021
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Best Tent Camping: Arizona
    Kirstin Olmon Phillips and Kelly Phillips, 2019
    Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

How big is Cibola National Wildlife Refuge?

18,447 acres.

Source: How acreage is computed

Who manages Cibola National Wildlife Refuge?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

What state is Cibola National Wildlife Refuge in?

The boundary crosses Arizona and California.

Source: How states are assigned

How do I get to Cibola National Wildlife Refuge?

A point inside the boundary is at 33.298° N, 114.692° W. The official page carries directions and the office address.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Sources

  • Boundary, name: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge boundary layer.
  • States and territories: computed by intersecting the boundary with Census state polygons and coarse outlines of the territories and outlying islands. A place is listed when it holds at least one percent of the area. A boundary that touches no outline is listed under the nearest one.
  • Acreage: geodesic area of the published polygon. The agency’s official acreage can differ where the boundary includes water, easements or inholdings.
  • Photograph: the image Wikidata records for this refuge (Q5119238), the item linked to its Wikipedia article. Author and license come from the file page on Wikimedia Commons.
  • Description: Cibola National Wildlife Refuge on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The article was accepted because its title contains this unit’s name.
  • Campgrounds: the Campsite Atlas index of federal campgrounds, matched to this boundary at build time.
  • Night sky: NASA Black Marble (VIIRS, 2016 composite) sampled at zoom 6 around the center point.
  • Weather, alerts, air quality, river flow and earthquakes load live in your browser from NWS, AirNow, USGS and iNaturalist when you open the page.