NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev.— Work is underway to broaden the visitor experience at Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument in Nevada with permanent accessible trails and bilingual elements.
The project includes more than 3 miles of the new Tufa Trail into the southern portion of the park, which will feature bilingual wayside exhibits, tactile models, and wayfinding maps. Work is expected to be completed in 2027.
“This important milestone removes accessibility and language barriers for outdoor recreation while also enhancing the visitor experience,” said Amanda Rowland, Tule Springs Fossil Beds Superintendent. “The project will help the National Park Service conserve sensitive resources, and the trails will direct visitors to a well-marked, accessible trail with engaging exhibits that promote stewardship and prevent sensitive resources from becoming trampled or disturbed.”
The new trailheads will serve as a gateway between the developed city and the natural Mojave Desert landscape and conserve natural washes and waterways that provide habitat for sensitive plants and wildlife. Species found in the area include the rare Las Vegas bear poppy as well as Las Vegas buckwheat and the Mojave Desert tortoise.
The site is also home to the only Ice Age braided rivers in North America. These stream formations, “frozen in time” and protected by the National Park Service, were once plentiful across the valley but have largely been lost to urban development.
The construction will cause some closures in North Las Vegas includings an area south of Grand Teton Drive, between Tule Springs Parkway and North 5th Street, and an area north of Grand Teton Drive and east of the Aliante Loop Trail.
Closures will not impact existing trailheads such as the Durango and Aliante Loops.
Design and construction of the trail is being paid for by home builder D.R. Horton as part of a 2018 land exchange agreement between the National Park Service and the City of North Las Vegas. The homebuilder is in the process of completing a new master-planned community that surrounds the park’s southeastern boundary, the Villages at Tule Springs.
The Protectors of Tule Springs, the park’s official philanthropic partner, sought and was awarded over $70,000 in funding from the Federal Highway Administration's Recreational Trails Program to support the new trail.
Accessible trails and bilingual signs are coming to parts of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument in Nevada.
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