Explore McCartney Creek Meadow
About McCartney Creek Meadow
McCartney Creek Meadow is a shrub steppe and freshwater habitat in Moses Coulee, managed by The Nature Conservancy, with 5 photo points monitored in spring and fall for changes in native vegetation.
About the Land Manager
Chuck Warner, Moses Coulee Conservation Area Program Director for The Nature Conservancy. Chuck may be reached at 509-665-9920 or by email.
At the Trailhead
Description of trailhead coming soon.
You are standing in the riparian area of McCartney Creek, within a meadow in Moses Coulee, part of the vast Columbia Basin shrub steppe ecosystem. The landscape you see was formed by a series of lava flows that laid down layer after layer of thick basalts. The coulee was carved by massive ice age floods – the largest floods known to science.
This landscape has been inhabited by humans for at least the last 10,000 years, tribes known today as the Wanapum, Yakima, Umatilla, and others. These meadows were homesteaded and farmed by a European American family, the McClures, beginning early in the last century. Agriculture and other human development have altered and fragmented much of the shrub steppe. Today, Moses Coulee and the Beezley Hills contain the largest, relatively intact shrub steppe landscape remaining in Washington State. The meadows were plowed and planted with crops and the stream channel was moved and straightened.
Explore the photos taken over time at McCartney Creek Meadow to see how citizens are helping to generate scientific data.
"The Conservancy is working to restore a healthy riparian system at this 35-acre site that will provide habitat for a diverse array of native plants and animals and opportunities for community learning."
Mary O'Brien tells about growing up near McCartney Creek Meadow
Photos of McCartney Creek Meadow
Preparing for Your Trip
- Walk-in access
- April - August
- Daylight hours
- Please leave dogs at home.
Driving Directions
From Wenatchee:
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Follow US-97/US-2 North to Orondo
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Take US-2 East toward Waterville
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From Waterville continue East on US-2 for 20 miles into Moses Coulee
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Turn right (South) onto Coulee Meadows Rd/Moses Coulee Rd continue for 5 miles
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Turn right onto Olson Hill Rd continue for .2 miles
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Take first left onto Old Todora Rd and continue for 1.1 miles
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Turn left on dirt road, follow to gate and designated parking area.
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Enter walkthrough gate and follow road down to meadow
The McCartney Creek Meadow Witnessing Change location is currently under development. Please feel free to learn more about the place, then check back in a while. We're working hard to get the photo points established, and appreciate your interest.