Hutton Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Hutton Lake National Wildlife Refuge was established on January 28, 1932, by Executive Order. Consisting of 1,928 acres, the refuge is located approximately 10 miles southwest of Laramie. The refuge include Hutton Lake, Rush Lake, Creighton Lake, and Lake George. Mallards, redheads, teal, pintails, great blue herons, black crowned night-herons, phalaropes, western grebes, bitterns, and black terns use the refuge during fall and spring migrations. We manage Lake George and Creighton, Hutton, Hoge, and Rush lakes with the focus of migratory bird habitat for migration stopover and breeding habitat. Water management is opportunistic due to limited water rights and a closed basin system. Ponds are filled in the spring with natural runoff and maintained as high as possible over the birds’ breeding and brood-rearing seasons (June–August).