War Horse National Wildlife Refuge

About War Horse National Wildlife Refuge

The following are the War Horse National Wildlife Refuge units: *War Horse Unit and Wild Horse Unit are fragmented, as such, be sure to know boundaries to avoid accidently trespassing on private land while visiting.War Horse Unit, the Refuge's namesake, is 1,118 acres and located 14-miles northwest of Winnett in Petroleum County. The unit consists of three separate land parcels adjacent to War Horse Reservoir: one 152-acre parcel is along the north shoreline of the reservoir; the other two parcels (606 and 360 acres) are on the south shoreline. The shorelines serve as staging areas for migrating waterfowl and nesting areas shorebirds. Some waterfowl do nest in the mixed grassland-sage.The 40-acre War Horse WPA connects two parcels of War Horse NWR lands on the south side of War Horse Reservoir. War Horse Reservoir, a natural wetland basin, was altered to store and provide water for crop irrigation. The privately owned irrigation project consists of diversion structures in Ford Creek (west of the unit) and Buffalo Creek (south of the unit); two supply canals that transport water to the reservoir; and a raised earthen dike across the outlet of the basin with a screw gate valve to release water into the irrigation canal. A lack of maintenance funds over the past three decades and flood damage to the diversion structures have greatly diminished the value of this project for irrigation purposes. About 75% of the shoreline of War Horse Reservoir is BLM- or Service-administered lands. The Service does not own any water rights in this reservoir. The War Horse Unit has a unique plant community-soil association in having a 225-acre ponderosa pine woodland on fragile acidic shale soils. The pines exhibit slow growth rates, are short in stature, and grow in dense stands with mostly bare shale soils underneath the trees. The remaining habitat of this unit is a mixture of sagebrush and grasslands with a savanna-like component at the interface with the woodland. Many wildflowers a

How to Get There

War Horse National Wildlife Refuge consists of three separate land units: Wild Horse, War Horse and Yellow Water.To access the Wild Horse Unit, head east from Grass Range on Highway 200 for 11 miles to the old town of Teigen. Turn north on the Blakeslee Road. Go 10 miles north until you come to a four-way intersection. Turn east and drive 1.5 miles to the lake.To access the War Horse Unit, head east from Grass Range on Highway 200 for 11 miles to the old town of Teigen. Turn north on the Blakeslee Road. Go 6.5 miles north until you see the lake, passing the National Wildlife Refuge sign (at 5.5 miles). At the cement bridge, turn east on the dirt trail to the lake.To access the Yellow Water Unit, take Highway 200 to the town of Winnett, then drive south on Highway 244 for 7.4 miles to the Yellow Water Road. Turn west on the gravel road and continue 5.5 miles taking a left at the ‘Y’ to the reservoir.

Plan Your Visit to War Horse National Wildlife Refuge

Heading to War Horse National Wildlife Refuge? A few things to know before you go:

• Reservations: popular sites fill up fast — check Recreation.gov 6 months in advance
• Fees: day-use and camping fees vary; check current rates on the official park page
• Trash & pack-out: follow Leave No Trace principles
• Wildlife: store food in bear boxes where provided; never feed wildlife
• Weather: the 5-day forecast above is updated every 6 hours; verify just before you go

References & Official Resources

• Official Recreation.gov page
• View on OpenStreetMap
• Driving directions (Google Maps)