Bosque del Apache means "woods of the Apaches," and is rooted in the time when the Spanish observed Apaches routinely camped in the riverside forest. Tens of thousands of birds including sandhill cranes, Arctic geese, and many kinds of ducks gather each autumn and stay through the winter. The refuge is located at the northern edge of the Chihuahuan desert, and straddles the Rio Grande approximately 20 miles south of Socorro, New Mexico. The heart of the refuge is about 12,900 acres of moist bottomlands - 3,800 acres are active floodplain of the Rio Grande and 9,100 acres are areas where water is diverted to create extensive wetlands, farmlands, and riparian forests.

You can reach the refuge From the north, take I-25 south to San Antonio exit 139, then route 380 east .5 mile, then State 1 south 8 miles to refuge. From the south, take I-25 north to San Marcial, the north on State Highway 1 for 9 miles to refuge.

Click to go to Bosque Del Apache Natl. Wildlife Refuge's own Web site. You will locate other web pages at NMohwy.com that are very much like Bosque Del Apache Natl. Wildlife Refuge at National Wildlife Refuges.

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