Dishman Hills

Dishman Hills Natural Resources Conservation Area is a 530-acre (210 ha) area protected by a combination of public and non-profit groups, including the Spokane County Parks and Recreation Department, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, the Inland Northwest Land Conservancy, and the Dishman Hills Conservancy. It is located in Spokane County, Washington. The granite outcroppings forming the bulk of the area were originally formed approximately 70 million years ago by volcanic magma pushing up through the Earth's crust and then cooling. The area's rugged, potholed appearance and deep gullies are a result of the Missoula Floods. It represents one of the most ecologically diverse regions in Washington state, where forests, grasslands, and shrublands converge, and sits within two ecoregions: the Okanagan and the Canadian Rocky Mountains ecoregions. The hills consist of small ravines, ponds, and large chunks of granite that support an ecosystem consisting mainly of ponderosa pine, as well as about 300 different flowering plants (including Indian Camas) and 73 different species of mushrooms.

The area also supports wildlife, including coyotes, marmots, white-tailed deer, pheasants, weasels, squirrels, chipmunks, porcupines, cottontail rabbits, raptors, ruffed grouse, and more than 50 species of butterflies. The Dishman Hills rise immediately south of the Dishman section 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.