What to look for in nature in Nevada this May

Which cacti bloom at Red Rock Canyon and around Las Vegas in May?

• Hedgehog cactus and its neighbors

  Late April into May in the 2019 and 2020 reports · Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, west of Las Vegas

  The reports for the last week of April 2019 list beavertail, hedgehog and prickly pear cactus in flower, and the report for May 5, 2020 describes magenta hedgehog cactus blooms with straggling mariposa lily and giant four o’clock. By then the same staff counted about 60 flowering species during scout hikes. A hedgehog cactus is easy to spot because its flower is a hot pink cup that opens right at the top of a small, very spiny barrel, often in the open on rocky ground. Buds look like dark red fingers pressed against the spines, which is how they show in many photographs from early May. Prickly pear flowers follow, and the May 21, 2020 report lists several kinds.

• Late-May plants: agave, cholla and datura

  The last week of May in both reports · Red Rock Canyon trails and the Scenic Drive

  In 2019, the week of May 26 brought yerba mansa, pygmy or Utah agave, buckhorn cholla and desert willow. In 2020, the report for May 28 added sacred datura, California buckwheat, thistle, Utah agave and buckhorn cholla. Utah agave sends up a tall stalk with yellow flowers, and its leaves form a tight rosette close to the ground. Sacred datura opens large white trumpets that are tied to evening and night visitors, so go early or late in the day to see them open. Do not touch datura: all parts of the plant are poisonous, a common warning that applies to the whole genus.

• A visit plan for Red Rock

  Reservations required through May 31; the Scenic Drive runs 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. from April to September · Red Rock Canyon Scenic Drive and State Route 159

  According to the conservation area’s website, daytime entry to the Scenic Drive needs a reservation between the first of October and the last day of May, and the April to September schedule runs 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. A weekly program called Flower Friday is linked from the same site. Everything here can change, so read the current page before you drive out, and use the same hour each week if you keep a bloom photo log. Stay on trails, since desert soil crusts take years to recover, as the Park Service says in its writing on Lake Mead plants.

Which desert shrubs and trees flower in Nevada in May?

• Cliffrose, Apache plume and brittlebush

  Mid to late April through the third week of May in the reports · Red Rock Canyon, and similar desert slopes statewide

  In 2020, the May 13 report lists Virgin River brittlebush, cliffrose, Apache plume, creosote bush and Palmer’s penstemon. In 2019, cliffrose and Apache plume were on the list for the week of April 21 and again in the week of May 19 beside desert thistle, hoary aster and honey mesquite. Cliffrose has fragrant pale yellow flowers with five broad petals, and Apache plume shows white blossoms followed by pink, feathery seed heads. Seen together on a slope, they can look like patches of snow in the middle of the desert.

• Indigobush, desert marigold and yerba santa

  First and second weeks of May in 2019; mid-May in 2020 · Washes and canyon mouths in the Mojave

  The week of May 5, 2019 brought indigobush, brittlebush, creosote bush and scarlet gaura. A week later the list included desert marigold, yerba santa, Mexican bladdersage, paperflower and jimsonweed. On May 21, 2020, the staff reported indigobush, white-stemmed paperflower, yerba mansa and bush penstemon. Indigobush flowers are a deep purple that stands out against gray rock, and creosote bush, the most common shrub of the Mojave, has small yellow flowers followed by fuzzy white seed balls.

• A shrub farther north

  Late spring into June in the central Great Basin · Slopes around Goldfield and the Basin and Range country

  The cliffrose seen near Goldfield, in central Nevada, in a Bureau of Land Management photograph taken on June 2, 2024, shows the plant still in bloom at that elevation. The caption says cliffrose is a popular food for mule deer, bighorn sheep and elk, which is one reason its flowering matters to wildlife managers.

Is May the best month for shorebirds in the Lahontan Valley and northern Nevada?

• What the surveys have shown

  April and early May in the one spring on file · Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, Carson Lake and the Humboldt Wildlife Management Area

  Audubon’s write-up of the spring 2022 migration describes three volunteer surveys, with the last one on May 5. Species the surveys turned up include dowitchers, dunlin, two small sandpipers and snowy plovers, and two wetland units at Stillwater held more than 500 birds between them. The article does not give a peak date; it says the survey data will help managers determine the peak migration pattern. It also shows how much the water matters. That year the irrigation allocation was only 70%, the state could hold only about 200 acres of wet habitat at Carson Lake while the birds passed, and the Humboldt Wildlife Management Area had no water at all during a visit in late April. Check conditions with the managers before you travel.

• Wading birds and a long bird list

  Open year-round; spring and fall are the busy migration seasons · Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, about 17 miles northeast of Fallon

  The refuge lists American avocet and long-billed dowitcher as key shorebirds, with tundra swan, canvasback, great blue heron and great egret among the other waterbirds, and says more than 250 bird species have been seen there through the seasons. An auto tour loop starts at Stillwater Point Reservoir and circles Lower Foxtail Lake. The refuge cautions that algal blooms in its water are highly toxic to dogs and recommends reading current advisories before you go. For nesting and event details it points to its email, stillwater@fws.gov. The spring bird festival that Fallon hosts had no trustworthy 2027 page when we looked, so we leave its dates out.

• Ruby Lake and the other northern refuges

  Open daily, one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset · Ruby Lake NWR south of Elko; Sheldon NWR in the northwest; Anaho Island in Pyramid Lake

  Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge sits at the south end of Ruby Valley, around 6,000 feet, on 40,048 acres of marsh and meadow. Harrison Pass is not maintained year-round, and the refuge points winter and bad-weather drivers to Secret Pass, reached from Interstate 80 exit 321 at Halleck. Its auto tour route can close temporarily for habitat work in Unit 14, so call 775-779-2237 or write rubylake@fws.gov first. Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1931 to protect the American pronghorn and now also shelters greater sage-grouse and California bighorn sheep, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Anaho Island, part of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, has been a bird colony preserve since 1913 and is closed to the public, so scan it only from tribal-permitted spots on the lake.

When does the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive open, and what is May like at Great Basin National Park?

• The Scenic Drive and the bristlecone groves

  Usually around Memorial Day (May 31, 2027); sometimes as early as April, sometimes as late as July · Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive and the Bristlecone Trailhead

  The Park Service says that after a typical winter the Bristlecone Trailhead opens in late May, around Memorial Day, and that melt conditions can make it as early as April or as late as July. When the drive is shut, the bristlecone trails stay open but the only access is on foot by the Lehman Creek Trail, which adds 6.4 miles round trip, and the park says that is not recommended without significant backcountry and winter experience and equipment. Its conditions page lists the drive as closed in winter and after snowfall, and says most park roads usually open between Memorial Day and late October. Call the park at 775-234-7331 or read the alerts page the week you go.

• What the weather is really like

  All of May · Lehman Caves Visitor Center, 6,825 feet, and the high country above

  The park lists the average May high at the visitor center as 66 °F and the average low as 40 °F, with about 1.1 inches of precipitation on roughly 7 days and about 5 thunderstorms. It also says the wettest May on record there brought 4.7 inches and that the snowiest brought 23 inches, so a May snowstorm is not a freak event. Valley days can be hot while the snowpack above has not melted.

• Birds, bats and fawns

  Arrivals through May; evening and early morning are best · Baker Creek, Upper Lehman Creek and the Wheeler Peak campground

  The park’s bird page lists sagebrush species such as golden eagle, western meadowlark, loggerhead shrike and horned lark on the drive up from Baker, mountain chickadee and warbling vireo among the ponderosa pines along Lehman Creek, and Clark’s nutcracker, Steller’s jay and pygmy nuthatch near the Wheeler Peak campground. It adds that summer dusk and dawn bring common poorwill, great horned owl and common nighthawk. The mammal page says deer groups usually consist of a doe with fawns and a few yearlings and feed most visibly in early morning and at dusk. At least ten bat species live near the park, and the bat page notes that Rose Guano Cave, visible from US 6 and 50 in the northwest of the range, holds a maternity colony of several thousand big free-tailed bats. The park reports no confirmed white-nose syndrome, though monitoring continues.

What is special about the Moapa dace refuge and Pahranagat in May?

• Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge and the Moapa dace

  Open Friday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., September through May; closed June to August · Moapa, about an hour north of Las Vegas

  May is the last month before the 136-acre refuge closes for the summer. It was set aside in 1979 to protect the endangered Moapa dace, a fish found only in the Muddy (Moapa) River and its thermal springs in Clark County. The Fish and Wildlife Service says the dace grows up to 4.7 inches, lives four or more years and prefers water between 82.4 and 89.6 °F. The refuge says populations are recovering but remain below the stable goal of 6,000, and the species page says adults were found in low numbers in restricted parts of three springs. Visitors can walk the streamside path, look at the fish through a stream viewing window or hike the half-mile Overlook Trail. Fishing, drones, swimming and camping are not allowed, and dogs must be leashed. Entry is free; call 775-725-3417 to confirm hours.

• Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge

  Spring migration; open year-round, check events · Pahranagat Valley, Lincoln County, along US 93

  This 5,382-acre refuge has spring-fed lakes, marshes and wet meadows beneath tall cottonwoods, and it is a stopover on the Pacific Flyway for waterfowl and songbirds in both seasons. The Fish and Wildlife Service has recorded 264 bird species there, more than half of all the birds recorded in Nevada, and the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher lives in its riparian forests. Gambel’s quail, cottontails, jackrabbits, coyotes, owls, mule deer and mountain lions are among the animals visitors may see. Entry is free. The ranger events on the refuge’s page were all scheduled in October through December of 2026, so none are posted for May yet.

When are desert tortoises active, and what else lives at Desert National Wildlife Refuge and Lake Mead?

• Tortoises on the move

  Spring through fall; also after summer storms · Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Mojave generally

  The Park Service says tortoises leave their burrows in spring to feed and mate and stay active through fall, and that they spend much of life underground. About 98% of eggs and hatchlings do not survive to adulthood, but an adult can live 60 to 80 years. The species was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1990, and disturbing one in any way is prohibited, so stand back and take a photo. Do not pick up a tortoise, because a frightened animal can empty its bladder and lose water it needs. A tortoise crossing a road is best left where it is unless it is in immediate danger, and then only experts should move it.

• Desert National Wildlife Refuge

  Backcountry roads open 24 hours; the visitor center keeps seasonal hours · North of Las Vegas

  The refuge protects the largest intact bighorn habitat in the Mojave Desert, and lists more than 320 bird species and 32 reptile species. Backcountry roads are open to passenger vehicles and street-legal motorcycles, but off-highway vehicles are banned throughout, and unreported washouts and loose rock are possible. Hours at the visitor center vary through the year, so look at the refuge’s own page first.

• Lake Mead, peregrines and bats

  All spring · Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Lake Mohave and Black Canyon

  The recreation area has recorded more than 240 kinds of birds and at least 19 species of bats. The Park Service says that by 2010 there were 33 nesting pairs of peregrine falcons in almost all areas of the park. It also describes the desert bighorn as wary of people, so watch from a distance. For current viewing tips, call the Visitor and Recreation Information line, 702-293-8990.

How warm, dry and windy is May in Nevada?

When is the last spring freeze in Nevada?

How much daylight does Nevada gain in May?

What is in the night sky over Nevada in May?

• Eta Aquariid meteors

  Best mornings May 5, 6 and 7, in the last hours before dawn · A dark site with a clear eastern and southern view; the radiant is in Aquarius

  Meteors from this stream can be seen between about April 19 and May 28. The peak falls on May 6, in the daytime for Nevada, so the mornings before and after are the best. New Moon arrives at 3:58 a.m. Pacific time on May 6, and the Moon is a one or two percent sliver, so there is no moonlight at all. Skywatchers in the southern states may see something like 10 to 30 meteors an hour in the final stretch before dawn, while the north sees fewer because the radiant climbs so late. Within Nevada that favors Las Vegas and Laughlin over Elko or Winnemucca.

• Flower Moon, a seasonal Blue Moon

  Full at 3:59 a.m. Pacific time on Thursday, May 20; best evening is Wednesday, May 19 · Any clear eastern horizon at dusk

  Since the Moon turns exactly full before dawn on the 20th, the Moon that rises near sunset on Wednesday, May 19 is the one that looks full. By the older seasonal rule, the Blue Moon is whichever full moon is third among four in a single astronomical spring, and this spring, running from the equinox on March 20 to the solstice on June 21, has four full moons, with May’s as the third. The newer rule asks for two in one calendar month, which does not happen in 2027. Think of it as a Flower Moon first. The Moon is not a supermoon.

• Mercury in the evening

  Best from about May 12 to June 5; greatest elongation May 28 · Low in the west-northwest, 45 to 90 minutes after sunset

  Mercury’s widest evening angle from the Sun, 22.8 degrees to the east, comes on May 28, and both the 27th and the 28th are close to that best view. Around mid-month, at middle latitudes, it follows the Sun down by roughly an hour and a half (97 minutes on May 15) and shines near magnitude minus 0.6. Of all its evening appearances this year, this one is the most favorable for northern states. A level west-northwest horizon helps, and binoculars will catch it if twilight is bright.

• Jupiter, Mars and the first-quarter Moon

  Evening of May 12 and 13 · High in the south to southwest after dark, in Leo

  Jupiter and Mars are still evening objects, and on May 1 each one does not set until about seven hours after dark falls, near 2 a.m. in the west. The first-quarter Moon slides within about 1.2 degrees of Jupiter at 2:52 p.m. Pacific time on May 12, still daylight, which means the pair stands close together as the sky darkens that evening. Mars follows the next night, with the Moon about 3 degrees away on the 13th.

• Venus and Saturn before sunrise

  Morning of May 7, with the 6th and 8th nearly as good · Very low in the east, in Pisces

  By our own computation the two are only about 0.6 degrees apart on May 7, with Venus around magnitude minus 3.9 and Saturn near plus 0.7. Half an hour before sunrise both sit just 3 to 6 degrees up, so success depends on a clear, level horizon and a pair of binoculars. Present it as a try, not a promise.

• The Milky Way core returns

  May 1 to 14 and May 25 to 31 at about 40 degrees north latitude · Dark sites such as Great Basin National Park and open desert

  The best windows have the Milky Way’s center at least 10 degrees up with no Moon and full darkness, lasting up to about 3.8 hours at 40 degrees north. The core is in the south before dawn, and the window moves earlier in the night through the summer. We worked these windows out ourselves, so take them as approximate.

What can families do outdoors in Nevada in May?

Safety notes for May in Nevada