Nature Trails
There are many trails and roads on the ranch for your hiking pleasure. A section
of the trail, known as The Nature Trail, one qarter mile in length, winds along
the creek between The Center and Madrone Lake. Along the way many of the trees
and shrubs have plaques that identify them by common name and include scientific
names and interesting information about them. We have Nature Trail Hunts for
school groups. We even have some special activities for adult groups that are
interested in plants. At the patio at Madrone Lake we have a "rainfall simulator" usually
called the Rain Machine, that demonstrates the importance of grasses for watershed
health.
Grass Trail
The newest addition to the trail system at the ranch is the Grasses of Selah. It is devoted entirely to grass species found on the ranch.While this is a continually evolving project, currently 85 of the 94 grass species found at Selah are represented on the trail. A Teaching Trail area was added that includes 20 of the more common grasses found at Selah planted in plots large enough for groups to surround to facilitate the learning process.
A planned addition to the grasses trail will be a prairie restoration site.
This will allow visitors to take a leisurely stroll through a mid-grass prairie
for learning or just the pure enjoyment of grasses. This trail has been used
extensively with educational programs for ranch workshops, area range plant
judging teams, 4H and FFA clubs.