NPSO 2024 Annual Meeting

May 17 - 19     Spirit Mountain Hotel, Grand Ronde, Oregon

Field Trips

Friday May 17, 2024    1 - 4 p.m.                    Field Trip # 3

Difficulty:     Easy  (0.5 mile) - Some wet prairie and uneven footing.

Elevation:     Negligible

Group Size Limit:     LIMIT REACHED, TRIP FULL

Trip Description:     The 30-acre Deer Creek Prairie Park is Yamhill County's most biologically diverse park, with upland and wet prairies, beaver ponds, and riparian habitats. Learn about its unique history through time, inundated repeatedly by Ice Age floods, seasonally occupied by the Kalapuya, then altered by European settlement. The Park was originally a wet prairie. After many attempts to farm the site, it was abandoned and acquired by Yamhill County. Wetland acreage had been greatly reduced, native plant diversity decreased, and noxious weeds increased.

The land slowly recovered and in 1992 it was found to have the largest stand of tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa) in the northern Willamette Valley. A controlled burn of the wet prairie and upland prairie was conducted in 1998, and a Restoration Grant in 2006 helped to restore the wet prairie over the next five years. The Park is currently managed by Yamhill County and is a designated mitigation site for enhancement of the endangered Fender's blue butterfly and its host species the threatened Kincaid's lupine (Lupinus oreganus).

Other notable prairie plants include fernleaf biscuitroot (Lomatium dissectum), common camas (Camassia quamash), Tolmie's cat's ear (Calchortus tolmiei), red columbine (Aquilegia formosa), Oregon sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum), narrow leaved mule's ear (Wyethia augustifolia) and Nelson's checkermallow (Sidalcea nelsoniana).

Appropriate Clothing and Footwear:     Waterproof footwear is advisable.

Special Considerations:     Restroom and picnic tables are available at Deer Creek Prairie Park. Poison oak present.

Meeting Place and Time:     Trip # 3 leaves at 1 p.m. from parking lot west of Hotel. Plan to arrive 30 minutes before departure time to meet your group and arrange carpools.

Alternate Meeting:     Participants may also meet the trip at 1:30 p.m at Deer Creek Prairie Park, Sheridan, Oregon 97378. If you choose this option, be sure to notify your trip leader in advance.

Driving Miles and Time from Spirit Mountain Hotel:     18 miles, 23 minutes to Deer Creek Prairie Park

Driving Directions:     Trip leader will provide detailed driving instructions.

Leader:       Dave Hanson

Steward of Deer Creek Prairie Park for more than 30 years, member of Yamhill County Parks Board.

Plant Lists and Other Information:    

(For Deer Creek species lists by family name and common name, see Field Trip #4.)

A large patch of Kincaid's Lupine (Lupinus oreganus)

Photo: Dave Hanson
New signs on the boardwalk educate the public about wetlands at Deer Creek Park

Photo: Amie Loop-Frison
A Fender's Blue Butterfly on Kincaid's Lupine (Lupinus oreganus)

Photo: Dave Hanson
A boardwalk around Deer Creek Prairie Park keeps your footwear dry.

Photo: Dave Hanson
Upland prairie is identified along the boardwalk at Deer Creek Park.