The Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1993 when the U.S. government purchased a large rice farm from the John Hancock Insurance Company. The refuge is located just south of Bald Knob, Arkansas and consists of 9,000 agricultural acres, 3,900 acres of bottomland hardwoods including wetland sloughs and oxbow lakes, and 1,900 acres of reforested acres. The refuge is bordered by the Little Red River.
The refuge provides a protected habitat for migratory waterfowl, other birds, and endangered species. Approximately 150,000 geese and 100,000 pintail ducks winter on the site annually.