Willow Creek

Why You Should Visit
The ecologically richest remnant of native wet prairie in the southern Willamette Valley, Willow Creek Preserve is protected as part of a local partnership that balances development with conservation. Willow Creek's native grasslands, ash woodlands and perennial streams provide the best remaining example of native wet prairie habitats in the southern Willamette Valley. More than 200 native plant, 100 bird and 25 butterfly species have been recorded on the preserve.

Location
South of West 18th Avenue in West Eugene

Size
508 acres

How to Prepare for Your Visit
The preserve is best visited in late spring and in summer; it is very wet in winter and early spring and more subject to visitor impacts during these times. For more information, please see our Preserve Visitation Guidelines.

Directions
From downtown Eugene:

Travel west on West 11th Avenue, and continue past the stop light at Bailey Hill Road.
Turn left at the next light onto Bertelsen Road.
Turn right at the four-way stop onto West 18th Ave.
Drive 0.3 miles and park on the right side of the road, adjacent to where the east fork of Willow Creek River flows under West 18th Avenue. The preserve is on your left, to the south.

Or:

Travel west on 18th Avenue through the Bailey Hill Road traffic lights.
Continue past the Bertelsen Road stop sign for 0.3 miles.
Park on the right side of the road, adjacent to where the east fork of the Willow Creek River flows under West 18th Avenue. The preserve is on your left, to the south.

What to See: Plants
The wet prairie of Willow Creek Preserve is characterized by tufted hairgrass and provides habitat for the Willamette Valley daisy, white-topped aster and Bradshaw's lomatium.

What to See: Animals
Fender's blue butterfly, thought to be extinct until rediscovered in 1989, is found in an upland prairie remnant in association with the rare Kincaid's lupine, the primary food source of the butterfly's larvae. The preserve also hosts the western pond turtle, a reclusive species once common in the Willamette Valley but now rare.

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
The Nature Conservancy has protected and managed portions of Willow Creek under lease agreements with private landowners since 1981. Willow Creek is part of the West Eugene Wetlands, an area protected through a unique partnership between local, state and federal agencies, the local community and The Nature Conservancy.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
In the 1990s, the Conservancy began purchasing additional Willow Creek properties and received gifts of property. In 1995, the Bonneville Power Administration purchased a conservation easement over the property as part of the agency's wildlife habitat mitigation program.

Prescribed fire was reintroduced to Willow Creek in 1986, with assistance from the Oregon Department of Forestry. Periodic burning has reduced the encroachment of trees and shrubs into prairie habitats. It also benefits native prairie plants adapted to periodic fire, such as Bradshaw's lomatium, which has increased by 50 percent in burned areas.

Teams of volunteers regularly help control invasive, non-native species, including Scots broom and Himalayan blackberry. Ecologists are monitoring water quality and conducting research on native reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, native plants and other elements of Willamette Valley prairie ecology.