What to look for in nature in Nevada this April

When do wildflowers bloom around Las Vegas and Red Rock in April?

• Red Rock Canyon, week by week through April

  Early to late April in the two spring reports on file · Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, west of Las Vegas

  The conservation area has posted weekly bloom reports in past springs. In 2019, the week of April 7 brought the first cactus flowers, firecracker penstemon, yellow two-tone penstemon and desert marigold along the Scenic Drive and State Route 159. By the week of April 14, desert hyacinth was blooming in numbers around Willow Spring, with globemallow, blackbrush, western redbud and straggling mariposa lily at Fossil Ridge. The week of April 21 added banana yucca, cliffrose, Apache plume and Palmer penstemon near the Visitor Center, and the week of April 28 brought Mojave aster along the Moenkopi Trail, plus beavertail, hedgehog and prickly pear cactus.

  The 2020 reports tell a similar story with different dates. On April 4 the common flowers were desert paintbrush, fiddleneck, filaree and wild rhubarb. The April 11 report describes cool, wet weather, with primrose and bastard toadflax out along trails and roads. On April 18 the staff listed desert marigold, early Mojave aster and small carpets of Wallace’s woolly daisy, and by April 28 cliffrose, redbud, beavertail cactus, Mojave goldenbush and purple sage were flowering. Early in May 2020 naturalists counted about 60 species in flower. These are two individual springs, not a calendar: a wet or dry winter can move every date by weeks.

• Bloom climbs the slope

  Low desert first; mid-elevations from mid-April; high country in May · Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Red Rock, Cima Dome and the Spring Mountains

  The National Park Service says in nearby Mojave National Preserve, in California, that the best flower viewing moves up the mountains by roughly 1,000 feet of elevation each fortnight, and its bloom chart lists Cima Dome and the Mid Hills for mid to late April and the High Peaks for early May. The same page says a handful of good soaking storms makes a memorable year and that a big bloom is by no means annual. Lake Mead National Recreation Area lists about 700 species of flowering plants and gets under 6 inches of rain in a year, and the Park Service writes that favorable winter and early spring rains turn bare slopes and washes into a mass of color. The group Friends of Nevada Wilderness says the Mojave is home to nearly 2,000 plant species, and it suggests staying on hard-packed surfaces or old road tracks, because fluffy desert soil is easily damaged.

• Great Basin National Park in April

  Spring is a transition; the Scenic Drive to the bristlecone groves usually opens around Memorial Day · Great Basin National Park, near Baker

  The park describes spring as the return of wildlife and birds and the start of wildflower bloom as snow melts. It warns that temperatures can run from the 20s F at night to the 70s F in the day. The Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, which climbs to about 10,000 feet, typically opens in late May, around Memorial Day, but the date depends on snow, and the north-facing slopes hold ice that plows struggle to clear. While it is closed, the park suggests the Baker Creek Road, the first half mile of Pole Canyon and the first mile of the Lehman Creek Trail. Those routes are snow-free more often than the high trails.

What is the Devils Hole pupfish count, and why do biologists dive in April?

• The spring count

  Early April in recent years; 2027 dates not announced · Devils Hole, in the Death Valley National Park unit at Ash Meadows

  The National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and Nevada Department of Wildlife count the Devils Hole pupfish each spring and fall. In 2024 the spring count took place on April 6 and 7: divers descended as deep as 100 feet while other scientists counted fish on the shallow shelf at the surface. They found 191 fish, the highest spring total in 25 years. The Park Service says that before the mid-1990s the spring count ran 200 to 250 fish, that the population then averaged about 90 for roughly two decades, and that the low was 35 in 2013. Biologists saw fish in good condition, with courtship and spawning behavior.

• A hard 2025, and a recovery under way

  Earthquakes December 2024 and February 2025; counts in 2025 and spring 2026 · Devils Hole

  The Fish and Wildlife Service reports that earthquakes in December 2024 and February 2025 set off waves of about six feet inside the cavern, sweeping algae and eggs off a shallow shelf of roughly 215 square feet where the fish feed and spawn. A dive early in 2025 found only about 20 fish (reports date it to February or March). Agencies then released 19 captive-bred pupfish from the Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility, the first such transfer into the wild population. The spring 2026 count was 77, nearly four times the 2025 low, and biologists saw many juveniles. Several hundred fish are kept in the captive facility as insurance. The 2027 spring count is a fair thing to watch for in the news in April or May.

• Visiting the refuge

  Year-round; check for closures · Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

  The refuge has a visitor center, accessible boardwalks, and views of the springs, dune fields, alkali seeps and mesquite and ash groves. It lists eight threatened or endangered plants. The refuge announced that the Point of Rocks Road and Boardwalk would be closed from September 15 to November 15, 2026 for reconstruction, so confirm current conditions by phone at (775) 372-5435 before you go. Pupfish are tiny, 1 to 1.5 inches long, so bring binoculars or a camera with a zoom lens for the springs that are open to visitors, and keep your hands out of the water.

Is April the start of shorebird season in the Lahontan Valley?

• The shorebird window

  April and May · Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, Carson Lake and the Humboldt Wildlife Management Area

  An Audubon report on the spring of 2022 describes an April to May migration window, with volunteer surveys running through May 5. Birds recorded included long-billed dowitchers, dunlin, least and western sandpipers and snowy plovers. On May 5 that year, two wetland units at Stillwater held over 500 shorebirds. The same report says the irrigation allocation reached just 70% that spring and that the Nevada Department of Wildlife had enough water to hold only about 200 acres of wetland habitat during migration, and that the Carson Lake team worked with the irrigation district and farmers to create shallow-flooded shorebird habitat for the first time. Habitat changes from year to year with the water, so the same unit can be dry one April and full the next.

• What a visit looks like

  Open year-round · Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, 17 miles northeast of Fallon

  The Fish and Wildlife Service lists more than 250 bird species at Stillwater, including American avocets, long-billed dowitchers, tundra swans and canvasbacks. Entrance is free, and there is an auto tour loop around Lower Foxtail Lake and Stillwater Point Reservoir, hiking trails with interpretive signs and a visitor center. The refuge warns about harmful algal blooms in the water and says toxic cyanobacteria can kill dogs within minutes to hours, so keep pets out of discolored water.

• The Spring Wings festival

  Annual, spring; 2027 dates not posted when this page was written · Fallon, with Festival Central at Oats Park

  The Spring Wings Bird Festival is an annual celebration of the Lahontan Valley wetlands. In 2022 the Fish and Wildlife Service listed it for April 30 and May 1, with self-guided tours to five wetland areas (Carson Lake, the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribal Wetlands, the NAS Fallon Nature Trail, Lahontan State Recreation Area and Stillwater), a Big Day birding competition and a scavenger hunt. The festival’s own website, springwingsbirdfest.org, showed no 2027 dates when we checked, so confirm with the organizers before you plan around it.

What can you see at Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge in April?

• Canvasbacks on the South Marsh

  Nesting season follows in spring; ask the refuge about timing · South Marsh and Ruby Marsh, east of Elko

  The refuge says the South Marsh supports the largest nesting population of canvasback ducks west of the Mississippi River outside Alaska. The refuge’s own pages do not give an April date for the first arrivals, so call (775) 779-2237 or write rubylake@fws.gov for current sightings before you drive.

• Getting there

  Check roads from November through May · Gravel roads to refuge headquarters

  Every route to headquarters includes 13 to 30 miles of gravel road. The refuge warns visitors to check road conditions with headquarters, especially from November through May, notes that Harrison Pass is not passable in winter and that drifting snow can stop travel except for the largest 4WD vehicles. The refuge is open from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset (longer during waterfowl hunting season).

Where can you see migrants and desert bighorn near Las Vegas in April?

• Desert National Wildlife Refuge and Corn Creek

  Spring mornings are best for migrants · Corn Creek, north of Las Vegas

  The Fish and Wildlife Service says Desert National Wildlife Refuge, founded in 1936, protects the largest intact habitat for desert bighorn sheep in the Mojave Desert. It lists more than 320 bird species, over 500 plants, 52 mammals and 32 reptiles. Its seasonal guide for spring says to watch for migratory birds in the morning and notes that tortoises and lizards come out of brumation and become more active. Backcountry roads are open to passenger vehicles, but the refuge recommends high-clearance 4WD for rough terrain and bans off-highway vehicles. Visitor center hours change, so check the refuge page.

• Viewing bighorn from a distance

  April through November is peak viewing at Hemenway Park · Hemenway Park in Boulder City, Valley of Fire, Red Rock and Lake Mead

  A Nevada news article quotes Doug Nielsen of the Nevada Department of Wildlife recommending that watchers sit, watch and use a good pair of binoculars, because “if you’re moving you’re not watching.” Fish and Wildlife Service tips in the article suggest scanning in early to mid-morning with the sun at your back, keeping 30 to 40 yards from the animals and using a phone’s zoom instead of walking closer. The National Park Service calls the sheep of Lake Mead wary of people. If a sheep stamps its feet or flips its tail, you are too close.

When is the best April shore fishing at Pyramid Lake?

• The mid-April shore bite

  Season October 1 to June 30; best shore fishing around mid-April · Pyramid Lake, on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation

  According to the tribal fisheries program, shore anglers do best around the middle of April, when most mature cutthroat are ready to spawn, and water temperatures in the high 40s during March and April bring the fish inshore. Schools become visible in very shallow water near 50 °F, and storms can shift the timing by as much as three weeks in a given year. Anglers 12 and older need a tribal permit, sold at the stores and ranger station on the lake and online. Current rules require barbless hooks and the release of trout under 17 inches and between 20 and 24 inches (fork length).

• Watching without fishing

  Any day; tribal rules apply · The lakeshore and the lower Truckee River

  The lake is tribal land, and visitors follow the tribe’s rules on camping, boating and permits. The white pelicans that returned in March (see Nevada in March) are still passing through, and a pair of binoculars on a calm morning reveals more than you expect.

How warm, windy and wet is April in Nevada?

When is the last spring freeze in Nevada?

How much daylight does Nevada gain in April?

What is in the night sky over Nevada in April?

• Pink Moon

  Full at 3:27 p.m. Pacific daylight time on Tuesday, April 20; best evening is that same Tuesday · Anywhere with a clear eastern horizon

  The exact moment of full comes in the afternoon, so the Moon rises round near sunset on the 20th and looks full again the next evening. The name Pink Moon refers to early spring wildflowers, not to color.

• Lyrids, a poor year

  Peak about 6:41 p.m. Pacific daylight time on Thursday, April 22 (daylight); best hours the night of April 22 to 23 · Dark sites

  In a dark, moonless sky the Lyrids yield about 20 meteors an hour. In 2027 the Moon is roughly 95% lit, so moonlight erases all but the boldest streaks. It climbs over the horizon late in the evening, leaving a short moonless stretch after dusk when the shower’s radiant, in Lyra, stands low in the northeast. Expect a scattering of meteors, perhaps several an hour.

• Jupiter and Mars in the evening

  All month; the Moon passes Jupiter on the evenings of April 14 and 15 · High in the south and west after dark, in Leo

  Jupiter is the brightest point of light in the evening sky. Our figures put the Moon, two-thirds lit on April 14 and 15, about a degree from the planet, and on the 15th 3 degrees from fainter Mars. At the start of April Jupiter stays above the horizon for roughly nine hours after dark, and it sets a little sooner every night.

• Venus in the morning

  All month; rising about 75 minutes before sunrise on April 1 · Low in the east before dawn

  Venus is still the brightest object at dawn but slips toward the Sun a little each week. By our own calculation, before dawn on April 3 and 4 a crescent Moon, only 9% lit, sits next to it. Saturn is lost in the Sun’s glare around its conjunction on April 7 and cannot be seen this month.

• Milky Way before dawn

  April 1 to 14 and April 28 to 30, around the April 6 new moon · Dark sites such as Great Basin National Park and the open desert

  At 40 degrees north, the best moonless window runs up to about two hours before dawn. We calculated these windows ourselves, so treat them as rough. The Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks around the mornings of May 5 to 7, close to the May 6 new moon, which should make it a well-placed year for it.

What can families do outdoors in Nevada in April?

Safety notes for April in Nevada