Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge
The Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located in southwestern Elko County and adjacent northwestern White Pine County in the remote Great Basin area of the northeastern section of the state of Nevada in the Western United States. Established in 1938, near the end of the Great Depression of the 1930s, under the presidential administration of 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as of 2023 it encompasses 39,928 acres (161.58 km2) of wetlands in Ruby Valley, just east of the Ruby Mountains and just south of Harrison Pass. It is 16 miles (26 km) long, up to 3 miles (4.8 km) in width, and lies at an elevation of 6,000 feet (1,800 m). Once the bed of an ancient 200-foot (61 m) deep lake, it is now a network of spring-fed marshes and shallow ponds serving as a habitat for hundreds of species of native and migratory birds and mammals.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
| Designation | National Wildlife Refuge |
| Managed by | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
| State | Nevada |
| Size | 40,055 acres |
| FWS region | Region 8 |
| Center point | 40.17° N, 115.47° W |
| Night sky | Very dark ground, a faint glow at most (Black Marble reading 23) |
Boundary map
Boundary, simplified to about 0.005 degrees Federal campground
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
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.
Where to camp
None of the 1 federal campground within ten miles sits inside the boundary. Nearest first. Distances are from the campground point to the boundary edge, from the Campsite Atlas index.
Most refuges do not allow overnight camping. The campgrounds listed are outside the refuge.
Trails
45 named Forest Service trails start or end within 4.5 miles of the center point, 15 miles in all. The 10 longest are listed here.
| Trail | Miles | Allowed uses |
|---|---|---|
| Mitchell 5 ↗ | 5.8 | |
| Bressman 3 | 0.9 | |
| Hager | 0.8 | |
| Bressman 2 | 0.7 | |
| Hager 6 | 0.7 | |
| Hager 5 | 0.5 | |
| Bressman | 0.4 | |
| Hager 7 | 0.4 | |
| Flyn Spur A | 0.3 | |
| South Ruby 1 | 0.3 |
Lengths and allowed uses come from the Forest Service trail layer by way of Trailhead Atlas. This trail list was copied from Trailhead Atlas on November 1, 2026 and is copied again on each weekly run. Trails in plain text have no page there yet. The radius is the one a circle of this unit’s acreage would have, measured from the center point, so a trail listed here can fall outside the boundary.
Explore
Nearby on the other atlases
- under 0.1 miFort Ruby ↗National Historic Landmark
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.
- Best Backpacking Trips in California and NevadaMike White and Douglas Lorain, 2015Find at Bookshop.org
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.
Reference
Questions people ask
How big is Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge?
40,055 acres.
Source: How acreage is computed
Who manages Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge?
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
What state is Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge in?
Nevada.
Source: How states are assigned
Can I camp at Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge?
The refuge page says whether camping is allowed here. The federal campgrounds within ten miles are listed under Where to camp.
Source: Where to camp
How do I get to Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge?
A point inside the boundary is at 40.173° N, 115.469° W. The official page carries directions and the office address.
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Are there historic places near Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge?
The National Register has 1 listing within 15 miles, including Fort Ruby.
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 (Q7376341), the item linked to its Wikipedia article. Author and license come from the file page on Wikimedia Commons.
- Description: Ruby Lake 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.
- Trails: the Trailhead Atlas open-data file of Forest Service trails, matched by trail endpoints falling inside a circle of this unit’s acreage around the center point.
- 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.