Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge
26010 S Smith Rd
Cheney, WA
A landscape of ponds and ponderosa pine scoured out by the Ice Age floods, where trumpeter swans nest, moose wade the wetlands, and a quiet auto tour puts you in the middle of it.
Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge protects a piece of one of the most unusual landscapes in North America: the Channeled Scablands, where Ice Age megafloods stripped the soil down to bare basalt and left behind a maze of rock channels, ponds, and pothole lakes. Over more than twenty thousand acres near Cheney, that flood-carved country has become a haven for wildlife and a peaceful escape from nearby Spokane.
The refuge is a mosaic of over a hundred wetlands stitched together with ponderosa pine forest, aspen groves, and grassland, and it is famous among birders for its nesting trumpeter swans. An unhurried auto tour and a network of trails let you slip into a landscape that looks like nowhere else.
What Guests Love
- The auto tour loop through ponds, meadows, and pine forest
- Trumpeter swans, the largest North American waterfowl, nesting on the refuge
- The chance to spot moose, elk, and beaver in the wetlands
- A big, quiet natural area minutes from Spokane
Worth Knowing
- The auto tour and much of the public use area are in the southern part of the refuge; most of the 23,000 acres are a protected core
- Spring and fall bring the most migrating birds; winter is quiet and cold
- Roads can be dusty in summer and muddy after rain, and mosquitoes can be thick near the water in early summer
- There is a small vehicle fee for the auto tour route in season
Details
Cheney, WA
Learn about Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge
Written by the Ice Age floods
The refuge sits on the edge of the Channeled Scablands, a landscape that exists because of catastrophe. Near the end of the last Ice Age, an ice dam in northern Idaho repeatedly failed, releasing the vast waters of Glacial Lake Missoula in floods that raced across eastern Washington. Those floods scoured away the soil and gouged the basalt into channels, leaving a country of rock coulees and countless depressions.
Turnbull's wealth of ponds and wetlands sits in those flood-scoured hollows. This particular blend of scabland rock, water, and pine is unique within the entire national wildlife refuge system, which is part of why the refuge was set aside. To walk here is to walk across the floor of a flood that reshaped the Northwest thousands of years ago.
Trumpeter swans and the wetlands
Turnbull's signature bird is the trumpeter swan, the largest waterfowl in North America. Unlike the smaller tundra swans that only pass through on migration, trumpeters nest and live on the refuge, and seeing these huge white birds gliding across a scabland pond is a highlight for many visitors.
They are far from alone. The refuge's more than one hundred and thirty wetlands draw ducks, geese, grebes, and shorebirds in great numbers, especially during the spring and fall migrations, and the marshes ring with the calls of red-winged blackbirds and yellow-headed blackbirds in season. The mix of open water and forest edge makes for exceptional birding.
Pines, aspen, and big animals
Away from the water, the refuge rises into open stands of ponderosa pine, their bark warm and cinnamon-colored, mixed with quaking aspen and steppe grassland studded with rock outcrops. This variety of habitat supports a rich cast of animals beyond the birds.
Moose have become a regular sight, wading the wetlands and browsing the willows, and the refuge is also home to elk, deer, coyotes, and busy colonies of beaver whose dams help shape the ponds. Early morning and evening are the best times to catch the larger animals out and moving.
Visiting the refuge
The heart of a visit is the public use area in the southern part of the refuge, where a five-plus-mile auto tour loop winds among the ponds and pines, letting you watch wildlife from your car. Several short trails branch off for those who want to walk, including boardwalks and paths to overlooks, and the pace everywhere is calm and quiet.
The seasons change the experience completely. Spring and fall bring the migration and the greatest numbers of birds, summer is warm and busy with young wildlife and, unfortunately, mosquitoes near the water, and winter drapes the scabland in snow and silence. Whatever the season, the refuge offers a big dose of nature just minutes from Cheney and Spokane.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Cheney
Cheney and Eastern Washington University
About 5 miles north
A friendly college town on the edge of the scablands, the nearest hub for food and fuel before a refuge visit.
Spokane and Riverfront Park
About 25 miles northeast
The largest city of the Inland Northwest, with the downtown waterfalls, the Looff Carrousel, and its regional museum.
Fishtrap Lake
About 15 miles southwest
A quiet scabland lake in a basalt coulee, popular for fishing, paddling, and rimrock hiking in the flood-carved channels.