USFWS · Nevada

Desert National Wildlife Refuge

The Desert National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wildlife refuge, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, located north of Las Vegas, Nevada, in northwestern Clark and southwestern Lincoln counties, with much of its land area lying within the southeastern section of the Nevada Test and Training Range. The Desert NWR, created on May 20, 1936, is the largest wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states of the United States, encompassing 1.615 million acres (6,540 km2) of the Mojave Desert in the southern part of Nevada. The refuge was originally established at 2.25 million acres. In 1940 840,000 acres were transferred to the Department of Defense.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

National Wildlife Refuge1.6 million acresUSFWSNV
Official page at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ↗
Desert National Wildlife Refuge
Photo by McMahan, David - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in the public domain, from Wikimedia Commons.
1 fire
active
Lovell Rx (prescribed burn) · 47 mi from the center · 54 acres
Interagency incident data as of 2026-11-01
Incident details ↓

Facts

Where each comes from ↓
DesignationNational Wildlife Refuge
Managed byU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
StateNevada
Size1.6 million acres
FWS regionRegion 8
Center point36.83° N, 115.40° W
Night skyVery dark ground, a faint glow at most (Black Marble reading 26)

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 Desert National Wildlife Refuge40°50°60°70°80°90°January: 0.58 inches of precipitationFebruary: 0.80 inches of precipitationMarch: 0.62 inches of precipitationApril: 0.25 inches of precipitationMay: 0.17 inches of precipitationJune: 0.08 inches of precipitationJuly: 0.46 inches of precipitationAugust: 0.28 inches of precipitationSeptember: 0.26 inches of precipitationOctober: 0.40 inches of precipitationNovember: 0.27 inches of precipitationDecember: 0.44 inches of precipitationJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 43.8°F averageFebruary: 47.0°F averageMarch: 53.6°F averageApril: 60.0°F averageMay: 69.1°F averageJune: 78.5°F averageJuly: 84.4°F averageAugust: 82.8°F averageSeptember: 75.0°F averageOctober: 62.6°F averageNovember: 50.8°F averageDecember: 42.8°F average0 in0.5 in1 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Desert Nwr, 27 miles from the center point at 2,914 feet, station USC00262243 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 5 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.

Fire nearby

Within 50 miles · as of 2026-11-01
  • Prescribed
    Lovell Rx

    47 mi from the center point · 54 acres

Distance is to the reported incident point, not the fire edge, and is measured from the center of a boundary that may be many miles across. Check the agency page for closures.

Explore

Nearby on the other atlases

National Park System units within 30 miles · Park Atlas
National Monument · Adjacent
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument
National Register listings within 15 miles · 19 in all · Register Atlas

Landmarks are listed first, then by distance from the boundary.

Guidebooks for Nevada

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

  • Hiking Nevada
    Bruce Grubbs, 2018
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Best Backpacking Trips in California and Nevada
    Mike White and Douglas Lorain, 2015
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Best Hikes Reno and Lake Tahoe
    Tracy Salcedo, 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 Desert National Wildlife Refuge?

1.6 million acres.

Source: How acreage is computed

Who manages Desert National Wildlife Refuge?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

What state is Desert National Wildlife Refuge in?

Nevada.

Source: How states are assigned

How do I get to Desert National Wildlife Refuge?

A point inside the boundary is at 36.828° N, 115.396° W. Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument is adjacent. The official page carries directions and the office address.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Is there a fire near Desert National Wildlife Refuge right now?

1 active incident within 50 miles as of 2026-11-01, the nearest Lovell Rx at 47 miles. Distance is to the reported incident point, not the fire edge.

Source: Fire nearby

Which national parks are near Desert National Wildlife Refuge?

Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument (adjacent). Park Atlas has fees, hours and alerts for each.

Source: Nearby on the other atlases

Are there historic places near Desert National Wildlife Refuge?

The National Register has 19 listings within 15 miles, including Hidden Forest Cabin and Mormon Well Spring.

Source: Register Atlas

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 (Q5263981), the item linked to its Wikipedia article. Author and license come from the file page on Wikimedia Commons.
  • Description: Desert 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.