Red Rock Lakes Wilderness

The rugged Centennial Mountains, rising to more than 9,000 feet, hang above the Centennial Valley wetlands and provide a dramatic backdrop for the remote Red Rock Lakes Wilderness. It was here in the early 1930s, among the inherent solitude and expansive wetlands, that the last remaining trumpeter swans — thought to be extinct — were found nesting. Shortly afterward the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge was established, and today a little over 60% of the refuge is Wilderness. Although many visitors come solely to catch a glimpse of the elegant trumpeter swans or a moose, this Wilderness often surprises them with its remoteness and its scenic and wildlife viewing. Red Rock Lakes is part of the largest wetland complex within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, a highly productive high-elevation intermountain wetland at 6,600 feet, and it contains a myriad of other habitats that attract a variety of birds: sandhill cranes, sage grouse, great blue herons, willets, avocets, long-billed curlews, grebes, short-eared and horned owls, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, marsh wrens, mountain bluebirds, tree swallows, western meadowlarks, vesper sparrows and 18 species of duck, to name a few. Elk, deer and pronghorn return to the valley in spring, just in time for the wildflower bloom and the impressive mosquito hatch. Year-round residents include moose, wolf, red fox, badger, coyote, pika, raven and grizzly bear. Historically grazed by bison, the land is now managed with prescribed cattle grazing and prescribed burning to maintain a mix of shrubs and grass structure for nesting birds and forage quality for big game. The refuge goal is to maintain dense vegetation, which provides hiding cover for a balanced predator-prey coexistence and sustains rodent populations that feed numerous hawks, eagles and owls. The riparian and riverine habitats here are some of the most vegetated and diverse in the western states.