Category Archives: Tours

Native Plant Tour Visits Coyote Spencer Wetlands

Posted on by

Friday, May 25 from 9:30am to 12:30pm

Swampy wetlands cover much of the Coyote Spencer Wetlands property, which is also home to native camas, lomatium, and other iconic plants of the Willamette Valley. Photo by Tim Giraudier.

The extensive, intact wetland habitats of the Coyote Spencer Wetlands are home to an impressive variety of native plants. Learn more about them during our upcoming guided tour of the 161-acre property near Eugene.

Join the McKenzie River Trust and Native Plant Society of Oregon for a tour of native flora on the Coyote Spencer Wetlands. We’ll explore late-blooming wildflowers in the emergent wetlands and wet prairie fields, and the understories of the extensive oak and ash forests. As time allows, we’ll visit populations of several rare and sensitive plant that are present on this site, including Bradshaw’s lomatium and Oregon peavine. Located just 5 miles southwest of Hwy 126, upstream of Fern Ridge Reservoir, this protected property is a conservation jewel in Eugene’s backyard.

Register here for Native Plants of the Coyote Spencer Wetlands

Connect with the Land

Posted on by

Connect with the Land

Get outside! Our guided tours are a great way to learn about the natural world, meet our staff and Board members, and experience the McKenzie River Trust’s protected landscapes for yourself. Tours are guided by community experts in natural history, native plants, birds, and other areas of interest, along with McKenzie River Trust staff. Tours are free, and they’re open to friends old and new. Please join us by signing up today!

Upcoming Tours

Saturday, April 28, 1 – 4pm: Spring at Hollyer Prairie
Saturday, May 5, 10am – 2pm: Native Plants of the Lower McKenzie
Thursday, May 17, 8am – 11am: Birds of Green Island
Saturday, May 19, 9am – 12pm: Picturing Birds and Buds – Photo Tour of the Berggren Watershed Conservation Area

Tours are generally limited to 15 people, and they often fill quickly! If a tour is full, please contact Liz at 541-345-2799 or llawrence (at) mckenzieriver.org and we will gladly add you to the wait list.

For volunteer opportunities, community events, and other ways to get involved with the McKenzie River Trust, visit our Events page.

 

Picturing Birds and Buds: Photo Tour

Posted on by

Saturday, May 19th from 9am to 12pm

Grab your camera! This springtime tour of the Berggren Watershed Conservation Area‘s farm fields and floodplain forest offers something for photographers of all levels. From the birds overhead, to the flowers blooming at your feet, to pastoral farm fields and the flowing backwater channels of the McKenzie River, this 92-acre landscape will give you plenty to explore and enjoy. Your camera is welcome on any of our tours, but this one will provide a special chance to get the perfect shot. Your pictures will show a landscape at the intersection of conservation and farming. Continue reading →

Native Plants of the Lower McKenzie

Posted on by

Saturday, May 5 from 10am to 2pm

Join the McKenzie River Trust, Native Plant Society of Oregon and Lane County Parks to explore riparian forest and upland prairie plants on a tour of the Berggren Watershed Conservation Area and neighboring Vickery Park. We begin at the Berggren property, touring the farm fields and riparian area with an eye to habitat restoration. Pause for a BYO bag lunch by the McKenzie River, then continue on to the undeveloped and relatively pristine Vickery County Park next door. This riverside park of 80 acres covers a steep, rocky hillside. Diverse habitats include oak savanna and dense forest.

Register here for Native Plants of the Lower McKenzie

Spring at Hollyer Prairie

Posted on by

Saturday, April 28 from 1 to 4pm

The 59-acre Hollyer Prairie Conservation Easement includes many natural wonders: upland and wet prairie, oak savanna and woodland, riparian forest, and even a population of rare lupines!  Come on an afternoon exploration of the property with landowner Helen Hollyer and naturalists Peg Boulay and Bruce Newhouse to uncover some secrets of spring. We’ll look for flowers on the lupines, camas and lomatium in the wetlands, and migrating songbirds in the forest — as well as anything else that catches group interest. This is a unique opportunity to see a wide variety of habitats on private property on upper Camas Swale Creek.

Register here for Spring at Hollyer Prairie

Guided Bird Tour of Berggren Watershed Conservation Area

Posted on by

Join us on a bird walk along the Lower McKenzie River led by McKenzie River Trust Board member and avid birder Margie Paris. We’ll focus on the floodplain forest and farm field edges of Berggren where many birds can be found. This tour will offer a great experience for birders of all levels. Bring your binoculars!

Saturday, September 17, 2011
9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Continue reading →

Naturalist Tour of Green Island

Posted on by

Sunday, June 12
9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

“Wick-y wick-y wick…tsweeeet tsweeeet!” Do you hear the calling of early summer in the air? It doesn’t get much clearer than at Green Island, where nature surrounds you. Explore just a portion of this thousand-acre property with the naturalist team of Peg Boulay and Bruce Newhouse. Many birds will be heard and seen on this tour – that’s a guarantee! Bring your optics along: binoculars and hand lenses (we’ll pass ours around to those who don’t have any), and cameras – you will need them all for the different kinds of life we’ll see: from the flowers and frogs at our feet, to the birds and butterflies above us. Expect to hike a mile or two on fairly flat ground.