The Amargosa Valley may look "deserted" if you only drive by on the highways. But if you get out and walk around small wonders can readily be discovered.

Hidden Pupfish Springs

^A bright blue male Ash Meadows pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis mionectes), a fish found in only 15 springs and pools on Earth.

^Crystal Spring, full of pupfish, in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nye County, Nevada.

^Screwbean mesquite groves dot the alkaline meadows, which harbor many endemic plants.

^Turquiose blue water bubbles up through limestone fissures to flow out into the Amargosa Desert.

^Farther south along the Amargosa River, springfed Grimshaw Lake by Tecopa, Inyo County, California, is home to another rare aquatic dweller, the Amargosa pupfish (C. n. amargosae). The Tecopa pupfish (C. n. calidae) used to live in this area too, but is now extinct.

^Pied-billed grebe at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

Wild and Scenic Canyons

^Arizona wild grape (Vitis arizonica) in the Tecopa river woodlands.

^Tall willow riparian forests along the Amargosa River as it flows through an arid canyon south of China Ranch and Tecopa. See the group Amargosa Conservancy, based out of the town of Shoshone, California.

^Lush Amargosa River woodlands in a strange badland setting.

^Nothing beats a moonrise in the desert.

Blooms of Color

^Chia.

^Cryptantha.

^Desert gold.

^Desert dandelion and white pincushion.

^Desert dandelion and Desert pincushion flowers flourish during the spring monthsin the Amargosa Desert.

Amazing Desert Reptiles

^A Gopher snake warms itself on pavement on a cool morning.

^Desert tortoise, a burrower with long claws and strong digging legs.

^Zebra-tailed lizard, a fast-runner in washes and creosote basin floors.

^Desert iguana, a large herbivorous lizard inhabiting the sandy flats of Amargosa Valley.

Desert Wildlife

^A young Bobcat.

^Desert bighorn sheep live in the surrounding hills, such as the Bare Mountains to the east, and the Funeral Mountains and Greenwater Range to the west.

^Looking east across the Amargosa Desert toward Death Valley Junction (too tiny to see!) and the Spring Range, from the Greenwater Range.

2/09 Update: Amargosa Solar Companies Tour the Area >>here.

3/09 Update: Solar Companies Moving on Amargosa Valley >>here.

5/09 Update: Solar Millenium Open House >>here.

 

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