P Ranch
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Perhaps the most wooded stretch of riparian habitat anywhere within the Malheur Refuge can be found at the historic P Ranch, near the southern terminus of the Center Patrol Road. The grounds around the house itself are off limits, but you are free to walk the river trails and view the trees around the house from the parking area.
To get here, from the Frenchglen Hotel take the Steens Mountain Loop Road east for 1.5 miles to the Center Patrol Road (CPR). You will see the tall poplars of P Ranch to your left. Turn on CPR and proceed north for a quarter mile to the P Ranch entrance road and parking area.
DirectionsHabitat and Birds
Follow the signs and you won’t have to worry about trespassing. Search the trees for woodpeckers and passerines. Walk the two track ditch road that heads north out of the parking area. Migrants like Eastern Kingbird, Gray Catbird and Bobolink can be seen here. Bewick’s Wrens are resident here. Large numbers of Turkey Vultures often roost in the trees and on the lookout tower. Lewis’s Woodpeckers are often seen in fall.
Bobolinks have traditionally nested along the CPR near here. Listen for their bubbly songs and look for their display flights in fields along the half mile stretch north of P Ranch.
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