Oxbow Nature Study Area
Twenty-two acres of cottonwood and willow on a bend of the Truckee, with a mile of nature trail. Free, quiet, and the best urban birdwatching in Reno.
Oxbow is the opposite of Virginia Lake: no loop of walkers, no playground, no lawn. It is about 22 acres of riverside cottonwood, willow and grassland on a bend of the Truckee, run jointly by the Nevada Department of Wildlife and the City of Reno, with a mile of nature trail through it.
It exists to be quiet. People come to walk slowly, watch birds and photograph the river, and the whole place can be seen in under an hour.
It is open daily from 8am until sunset and there is no charge. Parking is at the end of Dickerson Road, which is easy to miss.
Good for
- Birdwatching
- An hour of quiet close to downtown
- Seeing what the Truckee looked like before the city
Worth knowing first
- Small. This is an hour's visit, not an afternoon.
- Closes at sunset and the gate is real — do not plan on a dusk walk.
- Where
- 3100 Dickerson Rd, Reno, NV
- On site
- 1-mile nature trail · Birdwatching · Truckee River frontage · Free entry