Two children looking at a herd of elk from the bed of a carriage in a snowy landscape with mountains in the background

The refuge hosts a wide variety of bird species, from raptors to waterfowl. In the winter, Wapato Lake is a great destination to see thousands of migratory waterfowl throughout the lakebed. Visitors are more likely to see wildlife in the early or late hours, at dawn or dusk (friendly reminder that the refuge is only open sunrise to sunset). At this time, we don’t have facilities set up for gear rental, but we do have interpretive signs to help visitors identify some of the species they see; additionally, pamphlets and maps are available to help guide a visit to Wapato Lake NWR (coming soon). There is additional species and habitat information on our website with more biological information and natural history of our refuge.