A perfect way to spend Saturday morning with the feathered friends from exotic places! Crane, mallards, geese, and duck. Spectacular show! The walk is fine!!

Lots of crane and ducks. A few snow geese but more to come.

Bitter Lake is a beautiful Wildlife Refuge just North East of Roswell, New Mexico. Even though I went during the dry season there was still enough water in the areas to support birds, butterflies and all sorts of other neat plants and animals. Im a bit of a hiking nut so I was a little disappointed that theres only a few neat trails to meander on, but the main highlights are just sitting and enjoying the quiet, birds, butterflies, sunrises and sunsets. A marvelous place for photography and/or painting.

Bitter Lake is a beautiful Wildlife Refuge just North East of Roswell, New Mexico. Even though I went during the dry season there was still enough water in the areas to support birds, butterflies and all sorts of other neat plants and animals. Im a bit of a hiking nut so I was a little disappointed that theres only a few neat trails to meander on, but the main highlights are just sitting and enjoying the quiet, birds, butterflies, sunrises and sunsets. A marvelous place for photography and/or painting.

Beautiful sights and a really nice visitor center. The driving your is awesome. Lots of great stops and short trails to take. Bring your sunscreen!

Pretty sure I saw a beautiful viper. Be careful entering.

It was so sad, the lakes were practically all dried up and we didnt see any wildlife.

Nice scenery and good opportunity for bird watching. A lot of areas were marked closed, and it would be nice if there were some more boardwalks or viewing platforms.

Such a nice visitor center and helpful staff. A few trails, but this is mainly a drive to see birds or other wildlife like a big fat rattlesnake!Were full time RVrs focused on hiking. Blog link in my bio...

A wonderful place to learn more about desert life and how animals survive.

Very nice wide, level trails. Visitor center closed in the day we visited in early December for national holiday. Saw many birds, no other wildlife.

If you come to Roswell and you dont make it out here, well, its beyond time for some pointed self-reflection about your choices in life. P.S. Its for the birds. So many birds. Also great place for spotting lenticular clouds. And the sky, more generally. So much sky. What a magical place.

A great stop with a very informative visitors center.

Very Quiet. Not much water. A few birds

Its not too far out of town and it has some beautiful birds. Nice place to get away and relax

Spent most of my childhood summers here. Keeps getting better each year.

We loved the idea we could drive and stop to walk a little then get back in and drive some more. Ladies in the office were very enjoyable and had lots of info about what birds were abt.

Such an amazing veiw, absolutely beautiful

Nice wildlife drive. I thought there would be a lot more birds and I didnt realize there would be hunting going on. Beautiful day for the short drive

Friendly and informative staff. I loved that they had an inside area with comfortable furniture overlooking the pond were the birds can be viewed from.

I had an amazing experience watching all the flocks of sandhill cranes come in to land on the water at sunset.

We loved it and my 3 year old approved it.

It was super windy and I had hoped for more birds bit it was still awe inspiring!

Worth the visit, drove the scenic drive and had an amazing adventure. Looking forward to another visit when the weather is nicer and hitting the bike trail.

So very interesting and the views were beautiful. The workers in the gift shop were very helpful and pleasant. I will be back

Went on a random Friday early evening and it was awesome. Just went to get a layout of the area, the birds did not disappoint.

Beautiful

Its beautiful

Perfect time to go hiking, enjoy the weather and view the fowlery that are headed south. Beautiful.(Take mosquito spray.)

The dragon fly festival ended up being the best, most fun filled, informative day. It was perfect for the kids! Highly recommend the festival!

We really enjoyed the self-driving wildlife tour. There were numerous outlooks and trails on the tour that we could take advantage of, which made it that much better.

Needs more water, but if full ill be beautiful

Another great National Wildlife Refuge! Friendly staff and beautiful scenery. Fun video talking about Bitter Lake NWR! Neat visitor center with some interesting exhibits! Lots of wildlife! My family really enjoyed it! 5 year old, 7 year old, and 10 year old!

Roswell has a gentle place for dogs and to see a lovely sunset.

Nice unexpected place just outside Roswell. 10ml gravel road around the ponds/lakes.Lots of birds, dragon flies.Also lots of mosquitos on the trails so be prepared.

This place was absolutely teeming with life! A birders paradise! The visitor center was wonderful with knowledgable and helpful staff. The wildlife viewing loop was wonderful.

Went on a hot day during summer. Seems like best time to visit is during fall and enter when the migration birds are around. The Visitors Center is really nice!

Great place to walk unmolested (except by flies!). One of my favorite NWRs anywhere.

Another beautiful spot for driving. You never know what youll find. And their gift shop is nice too.

Nice lakes, vegetation change from desert to water plants

Beautiful. Watched over 10,000 Sandhill Cranes coming in to roost at dusk. Incredible.

Great refuge and lots to learn about wildlife! Kids releasing Monarch butterflies.

A hidden gem in Roswell, New Mexico. The scenery is beautiful with lots of wildlife and neat walking trails. Worth the visit!

Bitter Lake defines the Land of Enchantment. Wonderful doesnt even begin to describe this place.

Found on accident but what a wonderful accident. Took the drive just before sunset---so many different birds with beautiful messa backdrop. Loved it so much we stopped on our way out of town so we could see the visitor center. Spoke with the nicest volunteer who was super knowledgeable. Can not say enough good things about this place.

We came durring the heat of summer, views were beautiful and we saw some great birds, turtles, dragon flies and even a raccoon. The docent was very nice and helpful. We plan on coming back durring the migration season.

I Love watching the wildlife and the trails are good for hiking

Great facilities and staff.

Great place to visit especially if you like the Wildlife

It was good

For the area its a nice place to get away and see nature without going out of town.

So cold at this time but a beautiful place.

Great driving loop with abundant wildlife. Take your time and take it all in! My suggestion is to always stop at the visitors center first to talk to the volunteers about what is happening at the time of year you are there.

A hiddem gem! A ghost of a river now come back to life with lush desert wetlands and amazing vermillion cliffs.

Informative visitors center. Well marked trails.

Lovely staff!! Great views everywhere

Good spot for the bird watches. Did the drive of the loop and spent about an hour here. Parts of the park are closed and limited staff due to Govt shutdown.

So much unique wildlife! Could spend forever here if they completely opened the refuge.

Very good place for viewers to watch wild life! Free an nice place for parking!

Always love nature as she remains only passed by without mans touch, nice Refuge with plenty of habitat, landscapes and local animals and reptiles.. Nice quiet walk alone, with a lover or the whole family.

Full disclosure : I am a volunteer here but my review is honest. People come here to see the dragonflies and the wide variety of birds both local and migratory. The most awaited migration is the sand hill cranes. There is an 8 mile loop where you may see dragonflies, birds, snakes, horned toads, coyotes, and other critters. The reserve is a wonderful way to introduce kids to the great outdoors with viewing areas and trails to explore. The visitors center offers a wide range of information and a short film about the reserve and the migration. Facilities are clean, staff and volunteers friendly and helpful.

Great birding area: egrets, stilts, cliff swallows, coots, mallards, avocets, dunlins, ruddy ducks, grackles, northern shoveler, cinnamon teal, bufflehead, gadwall!

Nice area to get away from the hustle and rush of driving. Great for the bird watchers. Thousands and thousands of birds.

Im very impressed with this lake and its volunteering program

Bitter Lake NWR is an awesome place for wildlife viewing and well known for its dragonfly diversity. This place is a magnet for migrating birds. Depending on the time of year there are a ton of waterfowl, cranes, and shorebirds that are easily seen from the comfort of your car with a binoculars or spotting scope. If hiking is not your thing the auto tour route goes around a large part of the property and offers ample viewing opportunities. There are also several nice easy trails that are readily accessible from the road. The visitor center is very nice with some very informative interpretive displays. All of the volunteers I have encountered are very helpful and knowledgeable. Definitely worth at least one visit.

Excellent

Very good. Love the wildlife and animals in their natural environment. Cant get better than this. Make it here every time Im through Roswell. Love stuff like this

Amazing spectacle to see clouds after clouds rushing in the purple sunset sky towards you and discover it was the largest flocks ever of cranes!

Beautiful land (reserve) and natural surroundings. The folks from fish & wildlife are very friendly and helpful.

Beautiful place. Nice walking trails

Our home garden club members had a table with different activities for the children at the dragonfly festival and we all enjoyed all the information given by all different kinds of organizations and I am the lucky winner of a great duck picture thank you

My family and I went to the Dragonfly Festival and had a blast. Thank you for such an informative and fun experience.

Beautiful

Great experience for the Dragon Fly Festival.

Peaceful place with nice visitors center and no entrance fee

Any time of year this is a wonderful place to go for a drive/walk/run. The scenery is amazing, always some kind of birds there to watch. Very nice learning center.

Nice place. Visitor center was closed (Sunday) and many of the roads were closed due to government budget cuts. Found a picnic set and had lunch. Nice place.

Saw thousands of sandhill cranes fly in from the local farming fields. They came in at sunset in flocks and landed in the middle pool. It was an awesome experience. This place is less crowded than other wildlife refuges, but it is worth visiting!

I was at Salt Creek which is a part of Bitter Creek. Nice walk out to see the Pecos River and the refuge.

The attendants at the park guest station were friendly and knowledgeable. We saw many birds and insects. My husband was able to take great photos of the plants. The really big bummers were mosquitoes and a closed observation blind.

Saw lots of sandhill cranes flying in a few snow geese.

This place is amazing. Unfortunately it was partially closed because it was Sunday but you can still go in and drive the path and see the wild life and the views.

Its ok there are some water fowl. Went in March everything is kind of grey that time of year. Probably nicer when its warmer. Saw what I thought were bobcat tracks. Didnt stick around to find out.

Great wildlife viewing.

Excellent bird watching. Hundreds of sandhill cranes and snow geese and large variety of ducks.

Stunning!! We watched the Sandhill cranes coming in for the evening. Just a beautiful slice of heaven on earth!! Make sure to stop at the visitor center and watch the short video about this wonderful place

Great place to visit, had an amazing time on the trails. The ranger was very helpful and informative.

There is a nice driving route that takes about 30 minutes on gravel roads with lots of scenic overlooks and access to nature trails. Theres also a bike path. Lots of cool birds, lizards, and animals to see here.

Loved the visitors center! The drive was nice and the overlook was nice!

It was nice to look at the grounds but other than ducks, you dont see much wildlife. Quiet and relaxing space though.

Beautiful location and scerery. Trail well maintained and staff very helpful

Amazing views, a unique swamp Marsh type in the desert which cool natural spring waters spring up from the mountains. Aboundant wild life and birds of all kinds from pelicans Canadian geese, snow geese, cranes literally a safari like experience. A feeling of being at the edge of the world. Including some serious road runners the size of cats or bigger.

Beautiful area. Great place to take a drive or walk a trail. Tons of information on the land and the wildlife.

Beautiful place to walk while hearing the gentle buzzing of biting flies, and if your lucky enough they might give you a little peck on the cheek.

Great view from visitor center. Several pleasant walks on 1-2 mile trails. Take water

Water was lower then what i have seen and hardly no birds

Nice place to pass a good time with family and friends

We didnt see much wildlife but the park ranger in the visitor center told us it was more active in the fall.

I love to go driving here

Been going here my whole life and it is still my favorite place in New Mexico to visit. The birds are amazing!! Peaceful and quiet.