The 117,464-acre refuge is home to a wide variety of plants and animals. Visitors will find semi-desert grasslands, cottonwoods, and willow-lined riverbanks.
Construction at the Refuge

We are currently building new administrative offices for the refuge staff, allowing us to serve you better. In the short term, that may make us harder to find. Please call 520-601-0541 with any questions. 

Visitor Center will be open on Saturday - Tuesday and will be closed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Hours are 8:00 - 4:00 when staffed. We rely on volunteers to help us keep that open and answer questions. Thank you for your patience while we adjust.

We're proposing to construct a new Administration Building as well as a new quail breeding facility, we need your input.

Visit Us

National wildlife refuges offer us all a chance to unplug from the stresses of daily life and reconnect with our natural surroundings. The refuge offers many opportunities to enjoy wildlife-related recreation. Except for Brown Canyon, refuge trails are open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Hunting, camping, picnicking and many educational opportunities are scheduled throughout the year. 

Location and Contact Information

      About Us

      The 117,464-acre refuge is home to a wide variety of plants and animals. Visitors will find semi-desert grasslands, cottonwoods, and willow-lined riverbanks. Brown Canyon supports a distinct variety of plants and animals among its 200-million-year-old volcanic rocks. Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge is open to the public for an array of wildlife-related activities.  

      What We Do

      The National Wildlife Refuge System is a series of lands and waters owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wildlife conservation is at the heart of the refuge system. It drives everything we do from the purpose a refuge is established, to the recreational activities offered there, to the resource management tools we use. Selecting the right tools helps us ensure the survival of local plants and animals and helps fulfill the purpose of the refuge. 

      Our Species

      Most of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge sits high above the desert and includes rolling hills of grassland across a vast plain. You will find a variety of plants and animals in the plains and rolling hills, seasonally wet marshland and meadow, stately cottonwoods, and hackberry and mesquite groves. There is even more to see in leafy green oasis with several species of birds. You may even spot a subtropical species at the tip of its range. Finally, the Brown Canyon where cooler elevations house white-tailed deer, ringtails and coatimundis. You may even be lucky enough to see mountain lions, javelina and an occasional wandering jaguar.