USFWS · South Dakota

Waubay National Wildlife Refuge

Waubay National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in South Dakota, United States. "Waubay" means "a place where numbers of birds make their nests" in the Dakota language. The Refuge encompasses 4,650 acres (18.8 km2) of wetlands, native tallgrass prairie, and bur oak forest that provide a wide variety of nesting habitat for more than 100 species of waterfowl, song birds, and upland game birds as well as 140 additional bird species during migrations. Mammals include species from the ever-present white-tailed deer to the more elusive coyote and the diminutive pygmy shrew. The central location of Waubay National Wildlife Refuge in North America gives visitors the chance to see a mix of eastern, western, northern, and southern species.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

National Wildlife Refuge4,633 acresUSFWSSD
Official page at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ↗
Waubay National Wildlife Refuge
Photo by USFWS Mountain-Prairie, in the public domain, from Wikimedia Commons.

Facts

Where each comes from ↓
DesignationNational Wildlife Refuge
Managed byU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
StateSouth Dakota
Size4,633 acres
FWS regionRegion 6
Center point45.42° N, 97.34° W
Night skyAbout as dark as the ground gets (Black Marble reading 15)

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 Waubay National Wildlife Refuge10°20°30°40°50°60°70°80°January: 0.60 inches of precipitation, 6.6 inches of snowFebruary: 0.54 inches of precipitation, 6.0 inches of snowMarch: 0.84 inches of precipitation, 5.5 inches of snowApril: 1.96 inches of precipitation, 5.0 inches of snowMay: 2.93 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowJune: 3.69 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowJuly: 3.79 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowAugust: 2.26 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowSeptember: 2.39 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowOctober: 2.17 inches of precipitation, 1.2 inches of snowNovember: 0.69 inches of precipitation, 5.0 inches of snowDecember: 0.66 inches of precipitation, 6.3 inches of snowJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 12.6°F averageFebruary: 16.7°F averageMarch: 29.0°F averageApril: 43.4°F averageMay: 57.1°F averageJune: 67.2°F averageJuly: 72.0°F averageAugust: 70.6°F averageSeptember: 62.3°F averageOctober: 47.7°F averageNovember: 31.9°F averageDecember: 18.5°F average0 in2 in4 in6 in8 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Waubay Natl Wild Life, 1 mile from the center point at 1,827 feet, station USC00398980 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 23 inches a year. The dotted line is average snowfall, about 36 inches a year on the same inches scale.

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 · 11 in all · Register Atlas

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

Guidebooks for South Dakota and hiking across the country

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

  • Hiking the Black Hills Country
    Bert Gildart and Jane Gildart, 2021
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Moon Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills
    Laural A. Bidwell, 2016
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Walks of a Lifetime in America
    Manning, 2020
    Find at Bookshop.org

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

Reference

Questions people ask

How big is Waubay National Wildlife Refuge?

4,633 acres.

Source: How acreage is computed

Who manages Waubay National Wildlife Refuge?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

What state is Waubay National Wildlife Refuge in?

South Dakota.

Source: How states are assigned

How do I get to Waubay National Wildlife Refuge?

A point inside the boundary is at 45.420° N, 97.336° W. The official page carries directions and the office address.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Are there historic places near Waubay National Wildlife Refuge?

The National Register has 11 listings within 15 miles, including Roslyn Auditorium and Zoar Norwegian Lutheran Church.

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 (Q7975096), the item linked to its Wikipedia article. Author and license come from the file page on Wikimedia Commons.
  • Description: Waubay 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.