Beezley Hills PreserveThe views to the south sweep in the broad lands of the middle Columbia Basin and the greater Quincy area, while to the east you can see all the way to Moses Lake on clear days. The preserve protects a diversity of wildlife and a huge array of wild plants. Indeed, this area is home to one of the largest populations of hedgehog cactus we've ever seen--thousands of the squat little spiny plants are tucked into the sandy loam of the preserve. Watch your step, and keep the kids close at hand if you don't want to be picking spines out of ankles. Beezley Hills hosts an amazing flower display each spring, and the plethora of hedgehog cactus all seem to come in bloom at the same time--usually late April or early May. The spiny ground-hugging cactus sport bright, fluorescent-pink flowers that add a tropical feel to the desert. Passing through the gate near the road at the top of the ridge leads you down an old jeep track. You can follow this two-track trail or head east to create a loop hike. Walk east along the first ridge spine you encounter to enter a wild garden filled with phlox, Hooker's balsamroot, daggerpod, and several examples of the very uncommon sulphur lupine--one of the only white lupine species in Washington State. Once you leave the ridge-top area, the soils become more fertile and full, and as a result the flora changes. Look for arrowleaf balsamroot, death camas, lupine, fern-leaf desert parsley, squaw current, bearded owl-clover, larkspur, prairie star flower, long-flowered bluebells, thyme desert buckwheat, and more. Continue east down one long deep draw and up to another highpoint ridge. Turning southward, drop into a deep draw filled with towering sage "trees"--this sagebrush is at times 8 feet tall! As you climb out of this draw, turn to the west and hike up to the original ridge to catch the jeep track. The route provides a nice 3-mile loop, and the abundance of flowers and views means you can enjoy 3 or more hours of walking, moving slowly over that distance to savor the natural richness of the area. Hikers can roam at will within the fenced property, but no one should cross the fences--the adjacent landowners value their private property rights and visitors aren't welcome there.
Driving Directions:
From Ellensburg, drive east on Interstate 90 to exit 149 for George. After exiting, turn left and drive north on State Route 281 to Quincy. In town, turn right onto SR 28 toward Ephrata. Drive 0.8 mile and turn left onto P-NW Road (also known as Monument Road on some maps). Drive up P-NW Road for 3.1 miles, to where it turns to gravel. At 7.1 miles from SR 28, look for the entry through the fence at a gate marked "Nature Preserve--Foot Travel Only" immediately across from a side road that leads off to the radio towers 200 feet away. Recent Trip Reports
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Beezley Hills Preserve
— May 29, 2011
— Weluv2hike.
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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Sun was out, and were able to see all the cacti and lots of flowers in bloom....
Sun was out, and were able to see all the cacti and lots of flowers in bloom.
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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Nice stroll through the wildflowers. Couldn't find the loop trail so just wandered out the jeep trail and back....
Nice stroll through the wildflowers. Couldn't find the loop trail so just wandered out the jeep trail and back. Also hit the fun geocache at the top of the hill.
Day hike
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Wildflowers blooming
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The directions to the TH in Bauer and Nelson's "Best Desert Hikes Washington" are accurate. We stopped here on our...
The directions to the TH in Bauer and Nelson's "Best Desert Hikes Washington" are accurate. We stopped here on our return home from Beacon Rock SP CG and spent two hours exploring the area following a loop as described in the book. We were too early for lupine, hedgehog cactus, bitterroot and the many other varieties yet to bloom. Our guess is it will be at least 2 or 3 weeks before peak bloom. We did enjoy the early bloomers which were purple Columbia Dessert Parsley, small yellow parsley, phlox, dagger-pod, bluebells, sagebrush violets, a few "almost" blooming purple lupine, and a few Hairy Balsamroot.
Day hike
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Wildflowers blooming
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We drove to Eastern Washington to avoid the Seattle rain. The Columbia Gorge area was sunny and super windy. Blue...
We drove to Eastern Washington to avoid the Seattle rain. The Columbia Gorge area was sunny and super windy. Blue sky and beautiful clouds. It was a very pleasant day.
Please read the Apr 24 trail report by "mytho-man" about the driving direction from Quincy to the trail: " Turn left of off SR28 onto Columbia. If you look to the left as you turn you will see the sign for P-NW. If you get to where P-NW goes off to the right, you've gone too far. ". We faced exactly the situation they encountered. The road sign really needs improvement. The LEFT turn was had 2 signs: P-NW and Columbia. The 'P-NW' sign was harder to see. Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
No water source
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I led a Cascadian hike to the Beezley Hills Preserve on this sunny, but windy day. We got a...
I led a Cascadian hike to the Beezley Hills Preserve on this sunny, but windy day. We got a little lost in Quincey because the sign for P-NW is hidden behind a telephone pole. Turn left of off SR28 onto Columbia. If you look to the left as you turn you will see the sign for P-NW. If you get to where P-NW goes off to the right, you've gone too far. We generally followed the route as described in Best Desert Hikes. The wildflowers were profuse, especially the cushion phlox on the lithosols. There was lots of hedgehog cactus, but most of it was just coming into bloom or still in bud. It should be a good display next weekend. There were enough in bloom to satisfy our cameras, however, including one which we could see from across the canyon we were in. We called it 'The Beacon'. It was nice and sheltered in the canyon so we stopped for lunch on some rocky ledges nearby. After an hour or so of lounging in the sun, we made our way back to the cars. This was a new area for us and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. We encountered one rattlesnake and (as far as I know) one tick. We were the only hikers there today.
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Beezley Hills Preserve.
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