Paulina Creek Preserve protects three miles of Paulina Creek, wet and dry meadows, and ponderosa and lodgepole pine forest that provide habitat for a wide range of wildlife from frogs and fish to native bees and monarch butterflies, songbirds and bats. The Preserve also helps mitigate the impacts of climate change, conserves winter range for deer and elk, and enhances migration corridors with the nearby Deschutes National Forest and Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Paulina Creek Preserve also protects important cultural connections for the local community. This iconic former ranch is highly visible from Highway 97 and features breathtaking views of Paulina Peak and the Cascade Range. Conserving it helps protect the scenic character of the region, while also offering accessible recreation (with its associated health benefits!) for the communities of La Pine and southern Deschutes County. Once the Land Trust can establish trails and access points, we hope to connect these trails with Newberry National Volcanic Monument trails and other local trailheads. Finally, Paulina Creek Preserve helps mitigate the impacts of climate change by helping store CO2 and by growing native vegetation that removes CO2 from the atmosphere. Land conservation is climate action!

The Land Trust manages Paulina Creek Preserve to protect and, where necessary, restore fish and wildlife habitat. Since acquiring the property in 2022, the Land Trust has begun working on several restoration projects including:

Forest restoration. The Land Trust’s initial forest restoration efforts at Paulina Creek Preserve have been focused on improving forest health and lowering the risk of catastrophic wildfire. We started our first phase of forest restoration in 2025. Learn more.

Stream restoration. Planning is currently underway to design a stream restoration plan for the portion of Paulina Creek that runs through the Preserve. Our goal is to create a robust restoration design that helps the creek reestablish natural processes and improves habitat for fish and wildlife. Stay tuned for more details!

Managing weeds. Noxious weeds are a reality at all Land Trust protected lands. If they are not actively managed they compromise healthy native plant communities.

 

 

 

Paulina Creek Preserve can currently only be visited on guided Land Trust tours or via hosted educational offerings. When visiting, please note that Paulina Creek Preserve is a rustic nature preserve. There are no established facilities such as parking areas, trails, or trash removal services.

Preserve guidelines

Paulina Creek Preserve can currently only be visited on guided tours or via other authorized use. All use is conditional upon following these and any other posted rules:

• Dogs are not allowed.
• Pedestrian travel only.
• Respect restrictions as posted.
• Removal or disturbance of plants, wildlife, and historical artifacts is prohibited.
• No hunting, camping, campfires, smoking, or unmanned aircraft use.
• Commercial use, private events and unauthorized public use are prohibited.

Please note: Paulina Creek Preserve is private property owned by Deschutes Land Trust. Your use of the property is conditional upon these and any other posted rules. Preserve users failing to observe posted rules are trespassing and subject to applicable laws and penalties. Visitors to the Preserve may encounter risks associated with terrain, wildlife, and weather. Please exercise appropriate caution: the Deschutes Land Trust is not liable for injuries to Preserve visitors.

The map below shows the location of Paulina Creek Preserve. Paulina Creek Preserve is currently not open to the public, but can be visited on guided Land Trust tours or via hosted educational offerings.

From time immemorial, Native Americans, including the Klamath, Tenino, Northern Molala, and Paiute tribes, lived in this region or visited it to hunt, fish, gather foods, and trade. Paulina Creek Preserve is within the lands ceded to the United States by the Klamath Tribes and the land has cultural significance to many tribes across the state. The Land Trust is working with the Klamath Tribes, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and others to develop strategies for managing and restoring the property and sharing the history of the people who have cared for this land since time immemorial.

The first Euro-Americans began to arrive in Central Oregon in the 1800s as trappers, explorers, and survey crews began mapping the region. In 1843 westward migration began along the Oregon Trail as the federal government forcibly re-settled Native Americans and offered western lands to Euro-Americans.

The land that is now known as Paulina Creek Preserve was likely first homesteaded by the Caldwell Family. Between 1904-1911 an extended family of Caldwells, a father and four sons, left California to try their hands on the land establishing homesteads. In the same general area, property was also acquired by two Rease men (George Guy and Denison), by Marion West, and by Edward Rourk. In the following years many land transfers occurred. Familiar names are found throughout the records: Vandevert, Hixon, Shevlin, Gilcrist.

Between 1942-1945 Inez Marie Toldano, born in Colombia in 1906, but a naturalized US citizen living in California, began purchasing land in the area. In 1929 she married a minister, the Reverend Jesse Randolph Kellems. The nearly 900 acres she owned became known as the Kelldano Ranch. Toldano and Kellems died in 1977 and 1980, respectively, and it wasn’t until 2016 that Kelldano Ranch sold to new owners.

The Deschutes Land Trust established Paulina Creek Preserve in 2022.