| Rocky Prairie | |
|---|---|
| Rocky Prairie Natural Area Preserve | |
 Balsamorhiza deltoidea at Rocky Prairie | |
  Rocky Prairie | |
| Location | Thurston County, Washington |
| Nearest town | Tenino, Washington |
| Coordinates | 46°55′12.20″N 122°51′40.29″W / 46.9200556°N 122.8611917°W |
| Area | 810 acres (330 ha) |
| Designation | Nature reserve |
| Owner | Washington Natural Areas Program Washington State Department of Natural Resources |
| Website | Rocky Prairie Natural Area Preserve |
Rocky Prairie is a Puget prairie that is about 56 miles (90 km) southwest of Seattle, Washington, and about 10 miles (16 km) south of Washington's capital city of Olympia. It sits very close to the Millersylvania State Park, the community of Maytown, and the city of Tenino.
Old Highway 99 runs through Rocky Prairie. The part of the prairie west of the highway is called West Rocky Prairie. Both the west and east sides of the prairie have various plant and animal species. Many of the plant species are flowering plants. Both sides also have areas of Mima mounds (not to be confused with the Mima mounds at Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve about 10.5 kilometers or 6.5 miles to the west).
Rocky Prairie is divided into several different properties. The two land owners west of Old Highway 99 are the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Port of Tacoma. A major land owner east of Old Highway 99 is the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. There is also another property on the east side owned by Thurston County which has a gravel pit located on it. Some of the prairie on the east side is private property, and has pastures and houses on it.
In West Rocky Prairie, the property that belongs to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife is called the West Rocky Prairie Wildlife Area. The size of the property is 810 acres (330 hectares).[1][2] Part of the property is wooded, and part of it is in the prairie. The West Rocky Prairie Unit has over 300 acres (120 hectares) of woods, 360 acres (150 hectares) of wetlands, 40 acres (16 hectares) of Quercus garryana (Garry oak trees), and 300 acres (120 hectares) of Mima mounds.[3]
- ^ "Wildlife Areas | Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife". wdfw.wa.gov. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
- ^ Black Hills Audubon Society (2016). "West Rocky Prairie 2016" (PDF). Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
- ^ "West Rocky Prairie". capitollandtrust.org. Capitol Land Trust. Retrieved 5 September 2023.