Rose Creek Nature Preserve
Welcome!
The Rose Creek Nature Preserve is a special place located only 7.5 miles northwest of Pullman, Washington, near Albion. Visitors are welcome year round, dawn to dusk, 7 days a week.
The Rose Creek Nature Preserve is the best example of the distinct quaking aspen-black hawthorn-cow parsnip community type of its kind remaining in the endangered Palouse meadow steppe ecosystem. The 22-acre preserve is bisected by Rose Creek with a plant community of native bunchgrass species in the upland, and a lush community of species such as Fendler’s waterleaf, and purple trillium in the wet meadow.
How to Get Here
For the clearest, easiest route to the Rose Creek Nature Preserve, we recommend going through Albion. Follow the directions below, or if you do your own search, add a stop in Albion.
Directions:
In Pullman, head northeast on WA-27 N/N Grand Ave toward NE Olsen St. (2.3 miles)
At the traffic circle, take the 3rd exit onto Pullman Albion Rd. (5.0 miles)
In Albion, turn right onto N D St., then right at the first cross street onto W 1st St., then left at the first cross street onto N Main St.
Follow that road for 2.4 miles (Main St. becomes Palouse Albion Rd.)
Turn left onto Collins Rd. (0.2 miles)
Turn left onto Shawnee Rd. (0.5 miles)
The Rose Creek Nature Preserve will be on your right!
Once You’re Here
Stay on designated trails
No motorized vehicles or mountain bikes
No horses and/or horseback riding
No hunting or use of guns or paintball
No disturbing or collecting plants or animals, and no recorded bird calls
No smoking, pets, overnight camping, wood cutting or fires
Birding at Rose Creek
In addition to Palouse prairie landscape, Rose Creek Nature Preserve hosts a mature riparian ecosystem including thickets of hawthorn and red-osier dogwoods and stands of aspen. The adjacent Hudson Biological Reserve at Smoot Hill includes even more Palouse Prairie as well as upland pine forest habitat. The variety of robust habitats in a relatively small geographic area creates a magnet for birds.
Photo credit: Casey Lowder, Rose Creek Advisory Committee member and birding enthusiast.
An independent bird guide showcasing some of the species that can be found at Rose Creek was developed by volunteers Casey Lowder and Winston O’Neil. This useful guide contains names and images, and is organized by time of year birds are likely to be seen. Click below to see the Bird Guide or lean more about birding at Rose Creek.
