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Rock Creek Wildlife Area

Featured In: Best Desert Hikes: Washington, by Dan Nelson and Alan Bauer.
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Just when you thought you were stuck in the middle of endless cultivated farmland, you find this nugget of wild perfection! This wonderful refuge in a farm-rich region offers great habitat to wildlife and wonderful hiking to hikers.

The entire south side of Rock Creek is part of the protected (and unnamed) wildlife area. Because no name is posted for the public land unit here, we dubbed it the Revere--Rock Creek Wildlife Area. A wonderful old jeep track follows along the south bank of Rock Creek, weaving through public wildlife lands and offering a great riparian desert walk. Follow the road for the entire 3 miles, or extend your trek by making side excursions out along the fishing and game trails that criss-cross the lands above the creek.

As you follow the road, you'll enter several areas with good brush cover--this is prime habitat for the local population of upland game birds, especially quail and huns (Hungarian partridge).

To create a loop outing, follow the jeep track about 0.3 mile, then look for a track that veers off to the right away from Rock Creek. Take this as it climbs up into highland areas. Once above the creek basin, the track swings out around a pretty series of ponds, seeps, and springs set among some starkly beautiful rocky pinnacles at 2 miles. From there, veer left and start winding down toward the creek once more. After about a mile of wandering through the area, you'll be back down at Rock Creek, which you can then follow back to the trailhead.

Driving Directions:

From Vantage, drive east on Interstate 90 toward Spokane and take exit 245 for Sprague. Turn right off the freeway and drive 8.1 miles south on State Route 23, passing through the town of Sprague, to Lamont Road. Turn right on Lamont Road and continue 2.6 miles until the road veers left and turns into Revere Road. After 8.3 miles (0.2 mile after crossing the Milwaukee Corridor railroad grade) turn right on Jordon--Knott Road. Drive 0.3 mile on Jordon--Knott Road. Just before the bridge over Rock Creek, park in the area to the left. Hike over the bridge to the south side of Rock Creek to start hiking. Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife permit required.