5 Best Sights in Billings, Little Big Horn, and the Montana Plains, Montana

Bordering the shores of Fort Peck Lake—and extending west more than 100 miles to U.S. 191—is the massive Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, a 1.1-million-acre preserve teeming with more than 200 species of birds, including bald eagles and game birds; 45 different mammals, including elk, bighorn sheep, antelope, prairie dogs, and deer; and a variety of fish and reptiles. But this is also a refuge for history: each year scientists from around the country march into the preserve, and each year they find something new, whether it's dinosaur bones, buffalo jumps, tepee rings, or an old homesteader's shack. The refuge, one of the largest under the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's management, is open for hiking, horseback riding, fishing, boating, and other activities. Several access roads run through the area; most of these are unpaved, aside from U.S. 191, which runs north–south through the western edge of the refuge.

There are three staffed field stations in the refuge: the Sand Creek Wildlife Station, the Jordan Wildlife Station, and the Fort Peck Wildlife Station. Although they have no public facilities, they are conveniently scattered around the park, and are good sources of information, including maps, road conditions, and points of interest. If they're in, the rangers will help you with directions or problems.

In the fall, hundreds of elk congregate in morning and evening at the Slippery Ann Wildlife Viewing Area. During the autumn mating season the bulls bugle and spar with their antlers while herds of cows come to watch and be courted. Be sure to bring binoculars and zoom lenses for your camera, because you must keep your distance from these massive animals.

A refuge within a refuge, the UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge consists of more than 20,000 acres of wilderness entirely within the boundaries of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. Its primary mission at the moment is to rescue one of the nation's most endangered animals: the black-footed ferret. The ferrets depend on the high concentration of prairie dog towns for food. There are also plenty of grouse and burrowing owls, who use abandoned prairie-dog tunnels for homes.