Agate Desert

Why You Should Visit
Agate Desert is a native Rogue River Valley grassland, providing a sanctuary for rare wildflowers and a restoration site for a native prairie ecosystem. This flat, gravely outwash plain is abundant with prairie grasses and a showy display of spring wildflowers. Small depressions on the surface of Agate Desert create vernal, or seasonal, pools in an otherwise dry habitat. As the pools dry up in late spring, successive rings of wildflowers begin to bloom.

Location
North of Medford, in southwest Oregon

Size
53 acres

How to Prepare for Your Visit
The best time to visit is early April when wildflowers are in full bloom. The preserve is not signed and there is no official trail. For more information, please see our Preserve Visitation Guidelines.

Directions
From I-5 N of Medford, take the Central Point Exit (Exit 33) east about one mile to Table Rock Road. Turn left (N) onto Table Rock Road and proceed four miles to its intersection with Antelope Road. The preserve is on the northwest corner of the intersection. Park on the shoulder of Antelope Road.

What to See: Plants
Rare plants include two Oregon state-listed endangered species, the large-flowered woolly meadowfoam and Agate Desert lomatium. Another species of concern is the rare American pillwort.

What to See: Animals
The preserve's seasonal wetlands offer critical habitat to migrating birds and aquatic species, including a recently discovered population of rare vernal pool fairy shrimp.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
Ecologists are conducting a series of prescribed burns to restore native grasses and wildflowers on the preserve. Native bunchgrass and wildflower seeds collected by volunteers and grown at Oregon State University's Extension Service native seed nursery are used to restore the native prairie. Volunteers also help remove invasive non-native plants. Ecologists are studying invertebrates and other varied forms of life found in vernal pools on the preserve.