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| Hiking | 1.01 Miles |
43 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.01 Miles | 1 Hour 2 Mns | | 1.44 mph |
| 43 ft AEG | 20 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | We came to the Ash Meadows Refuge area on the recommendation of a ranger at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center when I stated that my kids absolutely wanted to see pupfish. I didn't even know what a desert pupfish was until we went to death valley, but I know considerably more about them now!  They are a startling bright iridescent blue color, and they live in beautiful pools! 
Originally, the ranger was going to send us to saratoga spring which is within death valley NP to see them, but upon learning that my 4wd high clearance vehicle only had stock tires on it, she recommended against going there. Saratoga spring is about a 1.5 hour drive south of Furnace Creek. She said that the spring is absolutely teeming with pupfish, so I have it on my list to do next time after I get new tires! 
Ash Meadows is on the way from death valley Furnace Creek area heading to Pahrump and Vegas, so for us it was an easy stop. There is also a fantastic enormous roadside cow sculpture on the way as an added bonus!! Very random, but super fun!!  Ash Meadows is in the middle of nowhere. And there is basically no one there, so it was a welcome treat after the throngs of people at death valley! We stopped at the visitor center first to see where we could see the most pupfish at. The visitor is brand new and glorious. It's an amazing structure. After talking to two very informative and friendly rangers, we were on our way to see all the pupfish in the area! First stop was right out the visitor center doors to the Crystal pool and associated stream. The trail is boardwalk. The scenery is nothing to look at until you reach the pool. What a dichotomy! This amazing huge pool full of warm clear blue water with pupfish. It is really something to see. Not tons and tons of pupfish here, but you can find them if you are looking. The most pupfish are down the street at King's Spring in the point of rocks loop.
We really enjoyed our time seeing the different pupfish-related areas at Ash Meadows Refuge. We would have stayed and seen everything, but we were on a time schedule, sadly. We were happy to see all the pupfish areas, including devils hole which is part of death valley np, and where no pupfish can be seen due to the distance of the observation deck from the water. Plus, devils hole is entirely enclosed by fencing and other metal enclosures to protect the endangered pupfish species that lives only there. It is pupfish prison!
The history of ash Meadows is interesting. Native people and early pioneers used the water in the area, and then later it was farmed. Then the land was bought by developers, and it was going to be a gigantic development. Instead, there was a huge dividing battle over the land for development vs. Saving the pupfish habitat as a Refuge. The Refuge won, and ash Meadows Refuge area was born. It is strange to think that several someones might have been living right next to devils hole in their suburban houses. That is what the map proposed shows. |
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Ash Meadows is in the middle of nowhere. And there is basically no one there, so it was a welcome treat after the throngs of people at death valley! We stopped at the visitor center first to see where we could see the most pupfish at. The visitor is brand new and glorious. It's an amazing structure. After talking to two very informative and friendly rangers, we were on our way to see all the pupfish in the area! 
