Medicine Lake Wilderness

Medicine Lake Wilderness lies within the glacial drift prairie of northeastern Montana. The gentle rolling hills and numerous shallow wetland depressions were created by repeated advances and retreats of glaciers; more than 12,000 years ago a one- to three-mile-wide valley bordered by pre- and postglacial terraces was formed by a glacial front along the ancient route of the Missouri River. Sitting at about 2,000 feet in elevation, Medicine Lake is a large, shallow lake that filled this ancient valley, and the Wilderness includes the main water body, the islands within it, and a portion of land southeast of the lake. The Wilderness conserves diverse wetlands and grasslands that provide breeding grounds for migratory birds and other wildlife. Over 126 species of birds are documented to breed here, including an abundance of waterfowl, grassland birds, and colonial nesting birds. The most common grasses are needle and thread grass, blue grama, western wheatgrass, prairie junegrass, and prairie sandreed. Four state-listed noxious weeds are found here — leafy spurge, Canada thistle, spotted knapweed, and dalmatian toadflax — and are being intensively managed. The area receives 12.83 inches of precipitation annually. Average temperatures range from 55 to 84 degrees F in July but can rise above 100 in summer, with summer nights almost invariably cool and pleasant; in January, average temperatures range from -2 to 23 degrees.