{"id":34743,"date":"2016-01-08T06:32:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-08T13:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=34743"},"modified":"2026-04-16T05:08:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T10:08:06","slug":"sunset-at-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/08\/sunset-at-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunset at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SunsetSunset at Red Rock Lakes NWR – Nikon D300, handheld, f5.6, 1\/50, ISO 400, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I spend a lot of time at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> during the warmer months of the year photographing the birds, wildlife, wildflowers and scenery of this national treasure in southwestern Montana.<\/p>\n

This land, our<\/em> land, is held in trust for future generations but in the present it offers a home for the birds and wildlife which they need to continue to survive and a place for us to go when we need to touch, see, and relish the natural world.<\/p>\n

This image shows a sunset at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge from September 9, 2015 but every sunrise and sunset on our national lands is a treasure.<\/p>\n

The horrible situation at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has me thinking of all the “national” treasures” we have in National Wildlife Refuges, National Recreation Areas, National Forests, National Historic Sites, National Monuments, National Parks and Bureau of Land Management lands.<\/p>\n

They should never<\/em> be held hostage.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red Rock Lakes NWR photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This image shows a sunset at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge from September 9, 2015 but every sunrise and sunset on our national lands is a treasure. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513,223,12,608],"tags":[4101,3830,4109,5178,615,4069,4868,5962,4092,3993,3996],"class_list":["post-34743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-clouds","tag-fence","tag-grasses","tag-lake","tag-lower-lake","tag-mountains","tag-national-treasure","tag-public-land","tag-refuge","tag-sunset","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-sun-set-mia-mcpherson-8216.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-92n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41906,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/08\/colorful-sunset-at-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":34743,"position":0},"title":"Colorful Sunset at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Watching a colorful sunset at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge fade to the darkness of night is a gift. A wonderful, priceless gift.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Colorful sunset at the Lower Lake of Red Rock Lakes NWR, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-lower-lake-mia-mcpherson-8203.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-lower-lake-mia-mcpherson-8203.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-lower-lake-mia-mcpherson-8203.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-lower-lake-mia-mcpherson-8203.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28304,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/09\/17\/crepuscular-rays-and-watercolor-skies-at-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":34743,"position":1},"title":"Crepuscular Rays and Watercolor Skies at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"My focus is usually birds and animals but as many of you know I also can't resist taking images of the beautiful views I see such as these two views of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge last week.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunset and watercolor skies at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-sunset-mia-mcpherson-8187.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-sunset-mia-mcpherson-8187.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-sunset-mia-mcpherson-8187.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-sunset-mia-mcpherson-8187.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34052,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/12\/08\/sunset-paints-the-sky-at-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":34743,"position":2},"title":"Sunset Paints the Sky at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The are times when I feel that the sunset paints the sky with vibrant colors and although the earth seems muted at twilight its still anchors me.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Painted sky at Red Rock Lakes NWR. Lower Lake view of the sunset, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-rock-lakes-painted-sky-mia-mcpherson-8287.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-rock-lakes-painted-sky-mia-mcpherson-8287.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-rock-lakes-painted-sky-mia-mcpherson-8287.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-rock-lakes-painted-sky-mia-mcpherson-8287.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":918,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/09\/21\/ive-added-a-new-favorite-location\/","url_meta":{"origin":34743,"position":3},"title":"I’ve Added A New Favorite Location","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"You can find\u00a0my information and photos\u00a0of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge here","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunlit fence at the lower campground of Red Rock Lakes NWR, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-stormy-sunset-mia-mcpherson-2551.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-stormy-sunset-mia-mcpherson-2551.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-stormy-sunset-mia-mcpherson-2551.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-stormy-sunset-mia-mcpherson-2551.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5192,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/16\/the-morning-mist-at-red-rock-lakes-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":34743,"position":4},"title":"The Morning Mist at Red Rock Lakes NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't have much time to post today but I wanted to share a few photos taken this week of the mists at the Lower Lake of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana. Red Rock Lakes NWR is an incredibly wild and beautiful location that has stolen a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunrise and rising lake mist at the Lower Lake of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-lower-lake-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-8279.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-lower-lake-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-8279.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-lower-lake-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-8279.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/red-rock-lakes-lower-lake-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-8279.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":94830,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/09\/12\/colorful-twilight-sky\/","url_meta":{"origin":34743,"position":5},"title":"Colorful Twilight Sky At Red Rock Lakes NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't have much to say today and all I really wanted to do was share this photo of a colorful twilight I took at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge about 6 years ago.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Colorful twilight at Red Rock Lakes NWR, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-sunset-colors-mia-mcpherson-8250.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-sunset-colors-mia-mcpherson-8250.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-sunset-colors-mia-mcpherson-8250.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-sunset-colors-mia-mcpherson-8250.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}