Text size: A | A | A  [Print]

Introduction

The United States Congress designated the Medicine Lake Wilderness (map) in 1976 and it now has a total of 11,366 acres. All of this wilderness is located in Montana and is managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Description

Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1935, contains 31,467 acres of water, marsh, and uplands bordering the great prairie pothole duck production region, an area within the ancestral flight path of ducks, geese, swans, sand-hill cranes, and sometimes whooping cranes. The terrain, once scoured by glaciation, varies in elevation from 1,935 feet to 2,025 feet. White pelicans, great blue herons, double-crested cormorants, ring-billed gulls, California gulls, and other breeding birds use the area extensively. More than 100,000 individual birds stop here in spring and fall, down from 250,000 in the peak population. More than 200 winged species and 44 mammalian species have been identified on the refuge. White-tailed deer, mule deer, and antelope are hunted here. Waterfowl hunting is permitted on the east end of the refuge, and sportfishing is allowed on the waters of at least eight lakes, including Medicine Lake.

Two sections of Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge are designated together as Montana's smallest Wilderness: (1) Medicine Lake and all the islands within the lake, and (2) a trailless upland portion just southeast of the lake called the Sandhill Unit, 2,320 acres of rolling hills, grassland, cactus, and clumps of chokecherry, buffalo berry, and buck brush. Foot and boat travel is unrestricted in the Wilderness except when it might endanger wildlife, such as during spring nesting season. The refuge is open from sunrise to sunset. Camping is not allowed.

Planning to Visit the Medicine Lake Wilderness?

• Print a fact sheet
• General things to consider when visiting any wilderness
• Regulations
• Contact the Fish and Wildlife Service

Leave No Trace

How to follow the seven standard Leave No Trace principles differs in different parts of the country (desert vs. Rocky Mountains). Click on any of the principles listed below to learn more about how they apply in the Medicine Lake Wilderness.

1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
4. Leave What You Find
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts
6. Respect Wildlife
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors

For more information on Leave No Trace, Visit the Leave No Trace, Inc. website.