The Nature Conservancy in Washington

Kids collecting and scavengering for things on the beach.

Rose Creek Preserve location map

The Conservancy is working with the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute (PCEI) to manage the preserve. Visit the PCEI Rose Creek Preserve Web site for lots of great information about the natural history, human history and opportunities to explore this special place.

Go Deeper

How to Prepare for Your Visit
Open year-round during daylight hours only. Please stay on the marked trail that leads from the small parking area.

Directions

From Pullman, head north on Route 27 and turn left on the Albion-Pullman Road.
In Albion, turn right on Main Street, which becomes Old Albion Road (gravel).
Proceed 2.8 miles and turn left on Shawnee Road (formerly known as Four Mile Road).
Continue bearing left for half a mile to the preserve, which is on the right. The road can be quite dusty in dry weather.
Walk a short distance down the private driveway and take the trail that heads off to the left, prior to crossing the bridge.

Preserve Visitation Guidelines
The Nature Conservancy's preserves are private properties, managed to protect native species and ecosystems. Please review these guidelines before your visit.

Why You Should Visit

The Nature Conservancy’s Rose Creek Preserve is a delightful refuge for wildlife in a highly productive landscape. Above Rose Creek, rolling Palouse wheat fields shimmer in the August sun. By fall, only stubble remains, but in the bottomland that forms the Rose Creek Preserve, an array of autumnal colors brings the landscape to life. Yellow-leafed aspen contrast sharply with the reddish-brown foliage of the black hawthorn. Nearby, skeletal stalks of cow parsnip await the leveling blasts of winter wind.

Location

Near Pullman in Southeast Washington

Size

101 Acres

What to See: Plants

This preserve is home to more than 250 species of vascular plants. In spring, the wooded portion of the preserve is covered with Fendlers waterleaf. The grassy slopes of the preserve contain many eastern Washington wildflowers such as buttercup, yellowbell, arrowleaf balsamroot, wild iris and wild geranium, as well as a well-preserved remnant of Idaho fescue grasslands.

What to See: Animals

Rose Creek bisects the preserve, offering life-sustaining water to more than 100 species of birds. In winter, long-eared owls roost in the dense hawthorn thickets as red-tailed hawks hunt the adjoining hills. Some of the less common eastern Washington birds, such as catbirds and black-chinned hummingbirds, are also attracted to Rose Creek. The preserve provides food and habitat to shrews, voles, porcupine, coyote and white-tailed deer. The Palouse giant earthworm was recently re-discovered in habitat close to the preserve. All of these animals are suffering from habitat loss and degradation in the Palouse, making the Rose Creek Preserve an essential refuge.

Why the Conservancy Selected this Site

The Rose Creek Preserve is one of the best remaining examples of the rare cow parsnip community, which covered less than five percent of Whitman County even prior to settlement, grazing and farming. On the preserve, black hawthorn grows to a height of 15 feet or more. The understory of cow parsnip grows to a height of six feet, creating a cool sanctuary for wildlife during hot summer months.

What the Conservancy is Doing

This site is being managed to provide the best possible habitat to native species. Efforts focus on controlling non-native species such as teasel and Canada thistle, and restoring a hay field to aspen forest.

Nature picture credits Photos (left to right): © Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute (aspen trees); © (placeholder photo).