Roosevelt elk in Jewell Meadows
— — the winter pasture two hundred head come down to.
Not only on a wall.
“Roughly 1,100 acres of bottomland pasture in the Oregon Coast Range, nine miles west of Highway 26 near the village of Jewell. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife set the place aside in 1969 to draw the local Roosevelt elk off neighbouring farms in winter. From November through March the herd, often over two hundred head, feeds in the meadow along Highway 202.
Roosevelt elk in Jewell Meadows, on ceramic.
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The place, in three passes.
Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area sits in Clatsop County in the Oregon Coast Range, about thirty miles inland from the Pacific at Seaside. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife manages 1,114 acres of pasture, hayfield, and timbered edge along Highway 202 near the village of Jewell. The area was established in 1969 after Roosevelt elk wintering in the valley drew complaints from surrounding farms. The Nehalem River runs the next valley over; Saddle Mountain rises north of the meadows on the road to Cannon Beach.
From late November into March the herd, often counted above 200 head, comes down from the forested slopes to graze on hay the ODFW puts out daily. The peak feeding window falls between Thanksgiving and the end of February. Bull elk shed antlers by March. In summer the herd disperses up the timbered drainages and the meadows mostly empty. The viewing experience is built around winter; ODFW publishes monthly viewing notes on the wildlife area's page so visitors can read the cycle.
Three paved pullouts along Highway 202 hold the public side of the meadows, each with interpretive panels and easy roadside parking. The area is open dawn to dusk, free of charge, year-round. ODFW asks that no one cross the fence; the herd reads a stopped car as background and a person on foot as a threat. Hunting is closed inside the wildlife area boundary. The nearest town for fuel and food is Jewell, about a mile east. Drive time from Portland is about an hour and forty minutes.