Aside from the numerous lakes and ponds, which provide ample habitat for ducks, shorebirds and the Peregrine Falcons that eat them, this refuge is also THE place in Colorado to find Greater Sage-Grouse outside the lekking season. Driving the refuge road at dawn or dusk gives you nearly even odds of finding these magnificent birds. However, note that the road is seasonally closed.

Habitat: Pond/Lake/Reservoir, Marsh, Sagebrush

Directions: The entrance to the auto route is on the west side of CO 125 four miles south of Walden, and 28.5 miles north of the Grand/Jackson county line. There is a small kiosk just off 125 marking the beginning of the auto route. The entire length of the auto route provides good looks at many lakes.

Acknowledgments: Hotspot information was originally compiled on Birding Colorado, a service of Colorado Field Ornithologists. CFO thanks all the original contributors.

Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge supports diverse wildlife habitats, including sagebrush steppe uplands, grassland meadows, willow riparian areas, and wetlands. This 23,464-acre Refuge was established in 1967 primarily to provide suitable nesting and rearing habitat for migratory birds.

Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge is one of over 560 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System It is situated south of Walden, Colorado at an elevation ranging from 8,100 to 8,700 feet above sea level making it the highest refuge in the lower 48 states. Located in an intermountain glacial basin approximately 35 miles wide and 45 miles long; an area that is the northernmost of four such "parks" in Colorado; the region is known locally as North Park.

North Park opens north into Wyoming. It is rimmed on the west by the Park Range, on the south by the Rabbit Ears Mountains, on the southeast by the Never-Summer Range, and on the east and northeast by the Medicine Bow Range. Numerous slow, meandering streams are interspersed on the basin floor, eventually combining to form the headwaters of the North Platte River. Most of the flood plain along the streams is irrigated meadow. The low rises adjacent to the flood plain and the higher rises on the Refuge are characterized by sagebrush grasslands.