USFWS · Minnesota

Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located in Aitkin County in east central Minnesota, five miles south of the community of McGregor. It was established in 1935 for waterfowl habitat preservation. The refuge includes Rice Lake itself, a shallow, 3,600-acre wild rice-producing lake. The refuge has been designated as a Globally Important Bird Area by the American Bird Conservancy due to the importance of the lake and its wild rice as a food source for migrating waterfowl, especially ring-necked ducks.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

National Wildlife Refuge18,088 acresUSFWSMN
Official page at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ↗
Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Photo by Unknown author Unknown author or not provided, in the public domain, from Wikimedia Commons.

Facts

Where each comes from ↓
DesignationNational Wildlife Refuge
Managed byU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
StateMinnesota
Size18,088 acres
FWS regionRegion 3
Center point46.53° N, 93.35° W
Night skyAbout as dark as the ground gets (Black Marble reading 12)

Boundary map

1 outline

Boundary, simplified to about 0.005 degrees

The outline is the agency boundary simplified for display, so small parcels and inholdings may not show. The agency page has the authoritative map.

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge0°10°20°30°40°50°60°70°January: 1.09 inches of precipitationFebruary: 0.98 inches of precipitationMarch: 1.69 inches of precipitationApril: 2.82 inches of precipitationMay: 3.84 inches of precipitationJune: 4.44 inches of precipitationJuly: 4.74 inches of precipitationAugust: 3.29 inches of precipitationSeptember: 3.10 inches of precipitationOctober: 2.93 inches of precipitationNovember: 1.73 inches of precipitationDecember: 1.25 inches of precipitationJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 9.5°F averageFebruary: 14.1°F averageMarch: 26.1°F averageApril: 40.4°F averageMay: 52.7°F averageJune: 62.9°F averageJuly: 67.6°F averageAugust: 65.3°F averageSeptember: 57.1°F averageOctober: 44.3°F averageNovember: 29.8°F averageDecember: 17.1°F average0 in1 in2 in3 in4 in5 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Aitkin 2E, 15 miles from the center point at 1,215 feet, station USC00210059 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 32 inches a year.

Large units span more than one climate. The station stands in for the center point, and the outer parts of the boundary can be warmer or colder.

Explore

Nearby on the other atlases

National Register listings within 15 miles · 7 in all · Register Atlas

Landmarks are listed first, then by distance from the boundary.

Guidebooks for Minnesota

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

How big is Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge?

18,088 acres.

Source: How acreage is computed

Who manages Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

What state is Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge in?

Minnesota.

Source: How states are assigned

How do I get to Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge?

A point inside the boundary is at 46.528° N, 93.354° W. The official page carries directions and the office address.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Are there historic places near Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge?

The National Register has 7 listings within 15 miles, including Bethelhem Lutheran Church and Casey, Patrick, House.

Source: Register Atlas

Sources

  • Boundary, name: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge boundary layer.
  • States and territories: computed by intersecting the boundary with Census state polygons and coarse outlines of the territories and outlying islands. A place is listed when it holds at least one percent of the area. A boundary that touches no outline is listed under the nearest one.
  • Acreage: geodesic area of the published polygon. The agency’s official acreage can differ where the boundary includes water, easements or inholdings.
  • Photograph: the image Wikidata records for this refuge (Q7323018), the item linked to its Wikipedia article. Author and license come from the file page on Wikimedia Commons.
  • Description: Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The article was accepted because its title contains this unit’s name.
  • Campgrounds: the Campsite Atlas index of federal campgrounds, matched to this boundary at build time.
  • Night sky: NASA Black Marble (VIIRS, 2016 composite) sampled at zoom 6 around the center point.
  • Weather, alerts, air quality, river flow and earthquakes load live in your browser from NWS, AirNow, USGS and iNaturalist when you open the page.