Hemenway Valley Park
401 Ville Drive
About
Hemenway Valley Park, located on the outskirts of Boulder City, may seem like an unusual tourist attraction. It's a lovely park, but it's not the park that draws both locals and visitors: it's the herd of Desert Bighorn Sheep that frequent its grassy fields. Boulder City has gradually grown up around Hemenway Valley Park, but the Bighorns have been here for years. They are not domesticated and signs warn visitors not to feed or bother these beautiful animals. Those horns on their heads aren't for decoration. The Hemenway Herd is large, with numbers hovering around 80. Visitors can see all kinds of Bighorns from lambs to mature males (with those distinctive curling horns). When the herd grows too big, animals have to be relocated; the park's location just off US93 puts the Bighorns very close to traffic. The Desert Bighorn is Nevada's state animal. It's a smaller than the Rocky Bighorn and can survive on very little water, often only what it gets from vegetation. The rocky hillsides around Hemenway Valley Park are a good example of the rugged landscape that Desert Bighorns inhabit throughout the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. As with any wild animal, the best times of day to see the Hemenway Bighorns is early in the morning and close to sunset, although these sheep can often be spotted throughout the day when temperatures are mild.
