Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument

I’m pretty sure these are the endangered Las Vegas Bearpoppy with yellow flowers in spring. Endangered, because Vegas sprawl exceeds monumental. Honestly, there wasn’t much else to see in this “still in planning stage” park site. There’s a temporary 3.25 mile Alicante Loop Trail and parking on North Aliante Parkway at West Moonlight Falls Ave, but the desert is subtle in natural features. There are mats of desert mistletoe in the acacia and mesquite, but they’re parasitic plants best appreciated by the rare silky flycatcher. Despite free dog waste bags and signs, the locals use this place to let their pets run off leash and much of the brush has poop and trash stuck in it. The park extends for miles from North Vegas up 95 northwest, and hopefully they will soon be employing a ranger to protect the park from the residents and pets of the lushly landscaped neighborhoods across the street. Vegas isn’t known for keeping realistic boundaries.

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