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Welcome

Photo of a thistle / Photo credit: Richard Edwards

Erie National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1959, is one of over 500 national wildlife refuges in the United States. Erie Refuge is a namesake of the Erie Indians, a Native American tribe that resided in the area. The Refuge is not on the shores of Lake Erie, but lies in Crawford County, 35 miles south of the city of Erie and Lake Erie in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Erie Refuge consists of two separate land divisions. Sugar Lake Division, the more intensely managed portion, lies 10 miles east of Meadville on the outskirts of Guys Mills village. It contains 5,206 acres lying in a narrow valley which includes Woodcock Creek draining to the north and Lake Creek draining to the south. Beaver ponds, pools, and marshland along the creeks are bounded by forested slopes interspersed with croplands, grasslands, and wet meadows. Map and Virtual Tour.

The Seneca Division is about 10 miles north of Sugar Lake Division or four miles southeast of Cambridge Springs. It consists of 3,594 acres situated in a forested valley where Muddy Creek and Dead Creek provide most of the wetland habitat.

Highlights

Only Refuge in the nation protecting endangered Northern riffleshell and clubshell mussels. French Creek, the most biologically diverse stream in Pennsylvania, flows through the Refuge where over 80 species of native fish are found.
Designated an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society. Attracts 237 species of birds.
Three distinct habitats, forests, fields and water's edge, found within the Refuge support 47 species of mammals.
A diversity of habitats provides homes for 37 amphibians and reptiles. Many of them overlooked because they are secretive or nocturnal.
Numerous wildflowers can be seen throughout the Refuge during spring, summer and fall along all the Refuge trails.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service