Halfbreed Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Halfbreed Lake National Wildlife Refuge is comprised of 4,286 acres, mostly wetlands around Halfbreed Lake plus the surrounding grassy prairie uplands. This NWR is a mix of conservation easement (400 acres), land lease (640 acres of state-owned land) and 3,246 acres of Waterfowl Production Area in northern Stillwater County. Halfbreed Lake NWR is managed as an outlying satellite of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Halfbreed Lake is unstaffed and offers virtually no visitor improvements, although the property contains some excellent breeding and nesting grounds for migratory waterfowl and other birds.

Halfbreed Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located about 6 miles east of Rapelje in the center of the Big Lake Complex, a large drainage that begins at Hailstone NWR to the north and ends at state-owned (and managed) Big Lake to the south. Being in the center of the Complex, Halfbreed Lake has the freshest water supply and probably sees the most use by migratory birds. The area was managed as a no-hunting zone for years, until Fish & Wildlife acquired most of the original flowage and refuge easement in 1987.