The Big Stone NWR Auto Tour Route should open this evening (4/12/2024)! However, it may be closed for short periods in the weeks to come due to spring maintenance (a beaver dam is starting to flood the main road) and fire activities.
As you enjoy the refuge, please keep an eye out for orange "Prescribed Burn Ahead" signs. We use fire as a natural management tool to promote the growth of native grasses and wildflowers, to suppress non-native species, and to maintain open landscapes for grassland-dependent song birds and waterfowl. If you see an orange sign or active fire crews, please choose enjoy the refuge from a new location. All of our gravel maintenance roads are open to the public year round, or you can venture off trail. Please don't park to block locked access gates.
Visit Us
The Auto Tour Route is open the first Monday in April to the first Monday in December unless otherwise noted in the alerts on our Home Page.
Connect with your natural heritage as you experience wildlife, diverse habitats and magnificent granite outcrops at Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge.