[2] Even though it is located in the Sonoran Desert, the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge Archived 2009-06-12 at the Wayback Machine is home to a mostly wetland environment.

Wetland wildlife is most abundant in winter, when birds such as cinnamon teal and northern pintail use the refuge.

Woodcutting during the steamboat era, clearing for agriculture, wild fire, exotic plants like salt cedar, and use of dams for flood prevention have devastated cottonwood and willow stands along the lower Colorado River.

Some animals that depended on the riparian forests, such as the southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus), have become endangered.

The trail takes you through a rainbow of colors left by 30,000-year-old volcanic activity and features a panoramic view of the Colorado River valley.