Meadowlark Prairie Park
Located off of Green Hill Road, near the corner of Green Hill Road and Royal Avenue, Meadowlark Prairie is located in the natural wetlands fed by Amazon Creek. These wetlands used to be used for agriculture and flood control. Then the approximately 400 acres were restored by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management along with the City of Eugene to provide habitat to endangered wildlife in the 1990s. The levies were pushed to the sides to support bike paths and the Amazon Creek is once again allowed to flood and create these essential wetlands.
This is the type of park you will want to go to if you want a quiet spot to sit and enjoy the birds singing and the wind rustling through a few lone trees or the tall grass on one of two benches that overlook the prairie. Take a walk or bike ride on the paved pathway that leads through it, connecting with the Fern Ridge bike path and cross over to Checkermallow Access and explore further into the prairie and the Amazon Creek. A bridge here and there crosses over the creek, and you will hear an occasional frog or water bird. The prairie is dotted here and there with ponds, tributaries and channels of the Amazon Creek.
At the Meadowlark Prairie overlook there is ample parking, with one handicapped parking spot, two benches, and three covered picnic tables. The parking lot is monitored by security cameras 24 hours a day and a sign indicates that pets need to be on a leash. Restrooms are a couple of Buck houses located across the parking lot. A one way drive goes through the parking lot, with gates on either side. Park hours are from 6am to 11pm, with the gates being closed nightly.
During the winter, these wetlands are flooded with water from the Amazon Creek, producing the natural wetlands. Deer, elk, osprey, eagles, smaller raptors and a host of other birds and animals make this their home. In the middle of the wetlands you can see nesting platforms that were put in by Willamette High School students. Many of these nesting platforms have large nests on them during the summer.
The view is spectacular, with the Three Sisters visible on a clear day, the South Hills to your right, an abundance of Queen Ann’s Lace and many other flowers. So bring your binoculars and see what you can discover in this wetland located right in Eugene!
Written by Sharon Phillips for DiscoverEugene.com
Photos by Sharon Phillips
