Arivaca Creek Trail is one of ten location-specific hotspots within Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. Use the greater Refuge hotspot when you have a checklist that includes multiple locations.

Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, an endangered species, is occasionally reported May-August.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a threatened species, are often reported here June-September.

Despite mention by Audubon of Buff-collared Nightjar nesting along the creek, which the organization has included in an IBA, there have been no eBird reports of this species at the hotspot since May 2015.

Giant cottonwoods and lush vegetation attract songbirds, woodpeckers, owls, and coatimundi to the stream’s banks. A short trail leads to the stream’s edge next to the home of Eva Wilbur-Cruce who wrote about growing up here in A Beautiful Cruel Country (please observe No Trespassing signs at private property).

Located in southern Arizona, Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge was established for the reintroduction of masked bobwhite quail and to restore the natural landscapes and native wildlife that depend upon it.

Spanning the 117,464-acre refuge are several distinct groups of plants and animals that are dependent on each other, also known as biotic communities. Visitors will enjoy the semi-desert grasslands that blend into the cottonwoods and willow that line river banks and wetlands within the refuge. Settled in amongst the grasslands and wetlands is a beautiful sycamore-shaded canyon of extraordinary diversity. Brown Canyon is home to 200-million-year-old volcanic rocks that support a distinct variety of plants and animals that have evolved within this amazing sky island ecosystem.

Established in 1985, the refuge was purchased under the authority of the Endangered Species Act. Open to the public, visitors can enjoy wildlife watching and photography, hunting, fishing, wildlife photography, and special wildlife-related events. It is one of more than 550 refuges that comprise the National Wildlife Refuge System, a national network of public lands and waters set aside for the benefit of wildlife and you!

Trail Location: 2 miles west of Arivaca at the Wildlife Viewing Area.
Length: 1 mile.

The trail, oriented roughly SW-NE, is spectacles- or barbell-shaped;  that is, it consists of two loops, joined by a single, shorter segment of trail. A section of ephemeral Arivaca Creek runs NW-SE through the smaller, more western loop. The Mustang Trail takes off in a southwesterly direction from this western loop.