Columbia National Wildlife Refuge

About Columbia National Wildlife Refuge

It's quiet and peaceful. In winter, nearly silent. In summer, listen for insect music. The sky is big, the space vast. It invites you to explore. Bring along your curiosity.Surprising to most people outside the Northwest, the landscape of eastern Washington is that of a desert. In its natural state, almost all of Columbia National Wildlife Refuge would be considered desert, with the exception of the naturally ephemeral Crab Creek. However, rather than a desert of cacti and mesquite, eastern Washington's desert is that of shrub-steppe, with sagebrush and bunchgrasses.Like most of eastern Washington, much of the refuge is no longer in its natural state. The construction of the Columbia Basin Project forever altered the landscape, bringing water to the desert. Seepage from irrigation structures and reservoirs created wetlands, riparian areas and small lakes on the once-dry landscape. The seasonal Crab Creek has become perennial, even providing habitat for endangered salmonids.The creation of lakes and wetlands would not have happened without the geologic upheavals of ages past. During the last Ice Age, sheets of ice spreading down from Canada blocked rivers with dams of ice. Occasionally—or perhaps hundreds of times—the dams failed, sending floodwaters greater than the flow of all the world's rivers combined tearing across eastern Washington's lava fields, gouging coulees, redistributing boulders, depositing massive sand and gravel bars, scraping the land bare in some areas and leaving behind rich soils elsewhere. Nowhere are these depressions and geologic nooks more prevalent than on the refuge. In turn, this torn-up land—the Drumheller Channeled Scablands National Natural Landmark—formed just the right topography to capture the new hydrology of the Columbia Basin Project, creating wetlands in the desert.Water in the desert means an abundance of life. In its original state, the land supported coyotes, rattlesnakes, mule deer, horned larks, sage sparrows and other crea

How to Get There

Columbia National Wildlife Refuge is located approximately 3/4 of a mile north of the intersection of McManamon and Morgan Lake Roads, about 5 miles west of Othello, Washington. The office is usually open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., excluding holidays. However, the staff is small, so when employees are in the field, the office is closed. While we're not always there, we do have a brochure rack outside the gate at the office so that you can get a map of the refuge, look at the general rules and regulations, and determine what areas are open to the public. Columbia National Wildlife Refuge is administered by the Mid-Columbia River National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Burbank, Washington (McNary National Wildlife Refuge). 64 Maple Street Burbank, Washington 99323 Telephone: (509) 546-8300

Plan Your Visit to Columbia National Wildlife Refuge

Heading to Columbia National Wildlife Refuge? A few things to know before you go:

• Reservations: popular sites fill up fast — check Recreation.gov 6 months in advance
• Fees: day-use and camping fees vary; check current rates on the official park page
• Trash & pack-out: follow Leave No Trace principles
• Wildlife: store food in bear boxes where provided; never feed wildlife
• Weather: the 5-day forecast above is updated every 6 hours; verify just before you go

References & Official Resources

• Official Recreation.gov page
• View on OpenStreetMap
• Driving directions (Google Maps)