Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge

The Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge wraps around Fort Peck Lake and follows the Missouri River upstream through the breaks of central and eastern Montana. Together with the UL Bend refuge inside it, it covers about 1.1 million acres, making it the second-largest national wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states and the largest in Montana. More than 175,000 acres are designated or proposed wilderness. There is no entrance fee and no visitor pass; you need Montana licences only to hunt or fish.

It was created in December 1936 as the Fort Peck Game Range, as the lake behind the new dam began to fill, and was renamed in 1963 for the Western painter Charles M. Russell. It became a refuge in 1976. The landscape is badlands, coulees, cottonwood river bottoms, sagebrush and short-grass prairie, and the refuge records more than 60 mammal and 235 bird species. Elk, mule deer, pronghorn and bighorn sheep are common; sage and sharp-tailed grouse, prairie falcons and grassland songbirds such as chestnut-collared longspurs live here too.

From Glasgow the nearest part of the refuge is around Fort Peck. Start at the Fort Peck Interpretive Center, run jointly with the Army Corps of Engineers, and ask about roads to the lake shore. In winter, bald eagles gather on the open water below Fort Peck Dam.

The refuge's best-known wildlife sight is far to the west. At the Slippery Ann Elk Viewing Area, on the 20-mile, all-weather gravel Auto Tour Route off US-191, hundreds of elk gather in the river bottom each autumn. Numbers usually peak from mid-September into early October, so by late October the rut is winding down. It is about 145 road miles from Glasgow, closer from Malta (about 75) or Lewistown (about 80). Arrive in the late afternoon and stay until dark, park on the south side of the road, and stay at the road edge; the area beyond is closed, and using headlights or spotlights to find animals is not allowed. The only facilities are vault toilets.

Most refuge roads beyond the Auto Tour Route are primitive, need high clearance or four-wheel drive, and become impassable when wet. There is little drinking water, cell coverage is patchy, and temperatures range from about 100 °F in summer to -20 °F in winter. Autumn is also hunting season, so wear bright clothing away from the road.