The refuge office is on the west side of the highway at the north end of town. For the conservation of natural wildlife resources. Prieta NWR Sonoran Desert Wilderness Harris hawk nesting in a saguaro. Boundless desert surrounds you in Cabeza Prieta, the third largest national wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states. Here, seven rugged mountain ranges cast shadows over barren valleys once swept by lava.
Saguaros loom in stark profile above the baked earth.
A 56-mile, shared border with Sonora, Mexico, might well be the loneliest international boundary on the continent. Imagine the state of Rhode Island without any people and only one wagon track of a road. Cabeza Prieta NWR is that big, that wild and also incredibly hostile to those who need lots of water to live. Yet, within a landscape at once magnificent and harsh, life does persist, even thrives. Temperatures may top 100 degrees F for 90 to 100 straight days from June to October.