Oak Creek's Elk Feeding Has No Opening Day. Here's What Sets It This Winter

"I don't want them to get through somehow and get in the orchards," Oak Creek Wildlife Area manager Greg Mackey told the Yakima Herald-Republic last January. "Because once they get by you, it's hard to get them back."

That quote explains the winter elk feeding off U.S. Highway 12 west of Naches better than any brochure does. The hay trucks, the visitor center and the crowds at the viewing area all serve one job, which is keeping the elk behind the fence and out of the orchards. That job sets the season's start date, and the start date decides when a drive out from Yakima is worth making.

Why the start date belongs to the fence

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife describes the Oak Creek program as one that "is conducted annually to help reduce conflict between elk and neighboring agricultural land." The agency's wildlife feeding guidance treats supplemental feeding as conflict mitigation, not general practice. Visit Rainier's guide to the program says the feeding is weather-dependent, that the dates vary with conditions and that it typically starts in late December, and it recommends calling the wildlife office before making the drive.

So there is no fixed opening day. Last winter, feeding started at Oak Creek and at the Cowiche feed site on Dec. 22. That was a mild, wet December, and the Herald-Republic reported that the elk spent most of their time at higher elevations and usually left the feed site before sunset after the afternoon meal. WDFW fed them anyway. Mackey said that even with the elk less desperate for food, putting out hay still kept them from finding their way around the fence and down the river corridor.

The weather that cut visiting hours short last winter also helped the herd. Mackey told the paper that the December rain brought "a lot of late green-up," so the elk would go into winter in above-average condition, with lower winter mortality expected. In its September 2026 hunting prospects report for District 8, WDFW describes the Yakima elk herd as more than 10,000 animals spread across more than 900,000 acres, stable and above its population objective.

That figure puts the feeding area in proportion. In early January 2026, nearly 450 elk came to the Oak Creek site and about 1,300 came daily to Cowiche, which is closed to the public. Visitors watch a small, weather-dependent share of a much larger herd. The number at the fence on any given afternoon depends on snow and cold up the ridge, so it changes from day to day.

What a visit looks like once the trucks roll

Last January, WDFW staff dropped hay at Oak Creek at a daily 1:30 p.m. feeding. The rest of the visit follows from that time:

1. Call before you drive. The Oak Creek Wildlife Area office is at 16601 U.S. Highway 12 in Naches, about 6 miles west of town and two miles southwest of the Highway 12 and Highway 410 junction. The number for Mackey's office is 509-653-2390.
2. Plan around the visitor center hours. Once feeding is underway, the visitor center is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily and staffed by Wildlife Education Corps volunteers. Last season, 40 to 50 volunteers answered questions at the viewing area and inside the center.
3. Book the truck tour a day ahead. During feeding, guided truck tours of the feed site run daily, and last about 30 minutes. WDFW recommends reserving, and a reservation has to be made at least 24 hours in advance. Seats not reserved go first come, first served. A donation is suggested, and it supports the feeding program. Last winter the tours started in January, weeks after the first hay went out on Dec. 22, so an early-season trip may mean the viewing area only.
4. Bring a Discover Pass. WDFW requires one on its lands unless you have a Vehicle Access Pass that came with an eligible hunting or fishing license. The Discover Pass costs $45 for an annual pass and $10 for a day pass.
5. Dress for standing still. WDFW's own tour note says to "dress appropriately," and a 30-minute ride in the back of a feed truck in January is cold.

The hay pile and the donation box matter more this winter

The same reporting that explains the feeding schedule also shows where the program's money is tight. The Herald-Republic reported in January that WDFW's hay budget for Oak Creek was cut 30% a year for the current biennium. Mackey said enough surplus hay was in storage to get through that winter and possibly part of the next, without drawing on the donation fund. "The next" winter is the 2026–27 season now ahead.

Mackey told the paper that visitors give about $8,000 a year, which can pay for equipment as well as hay, and that the account held about $100,000. The budget pressure is statewide. In July 2026, WDFW wrote that the 2025 legislative session cut $20 million in ongoing funding and the 2026 session cut $14.4 million per fiscal year. The suggested donation at the truck tour now helps cover the gap.

The viewing area itself was due for upgrades. The Herald-Republic reported that a grant from the state's Recreation and Conservation Office would pay for improvements at the feed site, with work expected to start later in 2026. The list included:

• Replacing the vault toilets with new CXT concrete toilets
• Extending the viewing deck
• Building a better loading system for the truck tours
• Repaving the viewing area, walkway and parking spots

When you call to check whether feeding has started, it is also a good time to ask how the tour loading and parking are set up this season.

When feeding starts, roads close too

Feeding season does more than open the visitor center. It also closes ground and roads to protect animals spending the winter on limited energy. Some closures follow the feeding schedule and one follows the calendar:

The boundaries are posted on the ground and marked on Green Dot maps, which are available at Oak Creek Headquarters and the WDFW Region 3 office in Yakima. Under the Green Dot system, roads open to vehicles carry a white post with a green dot, and unmarked roads are closed. The Tieton River Nature Trail stays open year-round.

A second herd on Old Naches Highway

The Oak Creek page also lists a bighorn sheep viewing site at 14300 Old Naches Highway in Naches. WDFW says California bighorn sheep can be seen there in winter on Cleman Mountain. Its 2018 management plan describes a Cleman Mountain winter feeding site that was used for herd counts, disease testing and trapping sheep for relocation.

The sheep have had a harder run than the elk. In its 2026 District 8 hunting prospects, WDFW reports that all three bighorn populations in the district tested positive for the bacterium Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, with severe, fatal outbreaks in the Cleman Mountain and Selah/Umtanum herds. The same report notes more lambs surviving and early signs of recovery during a three-year test-and-remove study that began in winter 2022–23. Seeing a band of ewes and lambs on the slope above Old Naches Highway this winter means more against that background.

The same December logic applies closer to home. The Yakima Area Arboretum keeps a bird blind in its northeast corner with a winter feeding station maintained by local Audubon members, and it's open for self-guided birding. Yakima Valley Audubon has its all-day Christmas Bird Count on its calendar for Saturday, Jan. 2, 2027. The Audubon group's field trips pause after this fall and resume in spring 2027, starting with a March 4 trip to the Toppenish Wildlife Refuge.

If the Oak Creek trip has you planning more winter weekends, our guides to the White Pass beginner area and parks and trails around Yakima cover other places nearby.

Some of the best property questions we get start on drives like this one, about places where deer and elk come down off the ridge and where orchard country meets open range. If you're thinking about a home on the west side of the valley or out toward Naches, Jeremy Sinnes and Lindsay can walk you through what living near wildlife means for fencing, irrigation and day-to-day upkeep. Schedule a consultation and we'll go over it with you.