Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve

Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve June 2010

Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve June 2010

 
Eriophyllum lanatum (Oregon Sunshine) at Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve June 2010

Festuca idahoensis (Idaho Fescue) at Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve June 2010
 
Viola adunca at Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve June 2010

Cladonia (Reindeer Lichen) at Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve June 2010

Zigadenus venenosus (Death Camas) at Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve June 2010

I went with a friend to the Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve in early June 2010.  It was about an hour's drive from Seattle in the mid-afternoon.  I had often heard about the mounds.  But I had never been there before.  Both the mounds & the preserve are somewhat small.  But there are enough of the mounds to make an amazing sight: dozens (perhaps hundreds) of small mounds close together in a random pattern, covered with grasses, wildflowers, lichen & kinnikinnick.  To get there, take Interstate 5 to Exit 95, then drive 4 miles through Littlerock to the T intersection, where a sign directs you to turn right.  The mounds are just 5 miles from Interstate 5.  

2 comments:

Molly/Nola said...

I have mounds on my property too, but there's nothing mysterious about them. The previous owner ran a Corvette chop shop and he buried the unsellable parts.

Thomas Rainer said...

Stunning! There's so much to be learned aesthetically from native ecosystems like this.