Medicine Lodge is at (37.284352, -98.580977) in south-central Kansas. It is in the Red Hills region of the Great Plains. The city is north of the confluence of the Medicine Lodge River and Elm Creek. The city is on the northeast side of the river. Elm Creek goes south around the eastern and southern sides of the city. A tributary of Elm Creek, which goes south through Medicine Lodge, has been dammed north of the city to form a reservoir. This reservoir is Barber County State Lake.