Dishman Hills Natural Resources Conservation Area is a area protected by a combination of public and non-profit groups (Spokane County Parks and Recreation Department,

Washington Department of Natural Resources The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages over of forest, range, agricultural, and commercial lands in the U.S. state of Washington. The DNR also manages of aquatic areas which include shorelines, tidelands, lands un ...

, Inland Northwest Land Conservancy, and Dishman Hills Conservancy), located in

Spokane County, Washington Spokane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 539,339, making it the fourth-most populous county in Washington. The largest city and county seat is Spokane, the second largest cit ...

. The

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

outcroppings, forming the bulk of the area, were originally formed 70 million years ago, by volcanic magma pushing up through the Earth's crust and then cooling. The protected Dishman Hills Natural Resources Conservation Area with its rugged, potholed appearance and deep gullies is a result of the

Missoula Floods The Missoula floods (also known as the Spokane floods or the Bretz floods or Bretz's floods) were cataclysmic glacial lake outburst floods that swept periodically across eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Gorge at the end of the las ...

and represents one of the most ecologically diverse regions in Washington state, where forests, grasslands and shrublands converge and is within two ecoregions, the Okanagan and Northern Rockies ecoregions. The hills consist of small

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from ...

s, and large chunks of granite, that support an eco-system consisting mainly of

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

, as well as about 300 different flowering plants (including Indian Camas), and 73 different species of mushrooms. The area also supports wildlife, such as coyotes,

marmot Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, ...

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

s, and dozens of species of butterflies. The Dishman Hills rise immediately south of the Dishman section of The City of Spokane Valley. Continuing south, out of the park, the elevation continues to rise to the Rocks of Sharon and the Iller Creek Conservation Area near the peak of

Krell Hill Krell Hill, also known as Tower Mountain, is a peak at the southern end of the Selkirk Mountains in Spokane County, Washington. It rises abruptly to the southeast of the relatively flat South Hill area of the city of Spokane. An area of high to ...

Valley View Fire

On Thursday, July 10, 2008 at about 3:30 PM local time, the Valley View Fire started in the Dishman Hills area. As of Friday morning it burned and destroyed 11 homes. Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency for

Spokane County Spokane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 539,339, making it the fourth-most populous county in Washington. The largest city and county seat is Spokane, the second largest cit ...

. A mandatory evacuation was ordered in the area and two shelters were set up around Spokane Valley. The fire's origin was a smoldering fire made by a resident of South Eastern Lane. The smoldering fire had been started days before the Dishman Hills Fire, and was left unattended inside of an old tree stump before it was re-ignited by fierce winds on the afternoon of Thursday, July 11. These same winds spread the fire quickly across the Dishman Hills and threatened hundreds of homes along Dishman-Mica Road. Many homes in the Park Drive area, located between the fire's origin and the Dishman Hills Natural Area, were in the direct path of the fire. Among other things, some factors in the spread of the fire were the unprecedented wind speeds, and the amount of natural fuel in the Dishman Hills area.

References

External links

{{Coord, 47, 38, 48, N, 117, 17, 13, W, region:US_type:waterbody, display=title Parks in Washington (state) Parks in Spokane County, Washington Hiking trails in Washington (state) Hills of Washington (state) Protected areas of Spokane County, Washington Washington Natural Areas Program Landforms of Spokane County, Washington Mountains of Spokane County, Washington Mountains of Washington (state) Selkirk Mountains