muleshoe national wildlife refuge

there are a handful of lakes that you can drive to. It is a very peaceful place especially at dusk and dawn. My husband and I saw a pair of great horned owls pretty close up. Also saw prairie dogs, sandhill cranes, and a coyote. I just wish there were more walking trails

The lesser Sandhill Cranes are the big draw (up to 250,000 have been seen here one winter). Come for cranes November through March. Bring binoculars and if you have one, a spotting scope. They feed in and around the refuge, often far from a road. When in for the noon-afternoon rest, they may be on the far side of that day's lake of choice for them. In 2014, the sandhills were joined by 2 Common Cranes (common in Eurasia, not North America) and the refuge drew birders from beyond Texas. The office was closed during my visit, so I didn't get to see displays. There is a nature trail that leads thourgh short grass prairie (steppe) habitat and some trees near the campground. The prairie dog town is easily seen from the mile long road into Paul's Lake on the east side of 214. An outhouse is at Paul's Lake parking lot near the viewing platform.

There are 3 lakes in the Wildlife refuge. The two on the west side, that includes the campground and park headquarters are dry salt beds from the drought. Go a little further north along the highway and there is a turn off on the right, (east) for Paul Lake. That is where we saw hundreds of cranes in the lake and flying overhead. It was a beautiful sight to see, just breathtaking! Bring binoculars so you can see them up close as they stay on the opposite end of the lake as the observation tower. You only need to plan on a 1-2 hour visit unless you plan on hiking around the lake. There is also a hiking trail where the campground is that leads into the grassland and escarpment. This is definitely worth seeing! But, you need to go in the winter to see the canes.

I wanted to do something "outdoorsy" for my birthday in January and this was the closest place to where we live, and we had never been so we decided to try it. I enjoyed walking on the lake's beach and found several interesting rocks, shells and what may be fossils. The cranes are gorgeous. By chance we were able to see one fly nearby and our daughter was delighted. We hiked around one of the trails and saw paw prints of a very large cat and various other critters. My family enjoyed our visit. It's a great place if you have an appreciation for this kind of thing.

This place is great, especially if you want to see large populations of Sand-hill Cranes coming in to roost for the night during late fall and winter! There are two parts to it, one on the west side, that includes the park headquarters, then a bit further along the highway going north, back to the east side, there is a portion with a large Prairie Dog Town. A nice place to stop and do some sight-seeing along an otherwise - not too scenic area!

Lots of wildlife if you slow down and look. Mule deer in rut were awesome. Lucked into a bobcat. Not many cranes but a few. Very dry drought has taken its toll. Glad we have places like this so the animals can survive. Evenings were the best. Wished we had more refuges in the area

Interesting, but didn't see all that much, Maybe the wrong time of the year.

We walked around Paul's lake, and saw thousands of cranes. Just what we came for. It was windy, but the sun was shining and it wasn't too cold.

I enjoyed the nature center and the drives and the distant views, but there was no way to get close to see the cranes, field glasses are a definite must.