6800 Pembroke Dr, Reno, NV 89502, USA

Rosewood Nature Study Area

Park Description:

The Rosewood Nature Study Area is a 220-acre City of Reno owned restoration area and public-access natural space that is leased and operated by the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation. The Nature Study Area hosts an ongoing project restoring a decomissioned golf course into a functioning Great Basin wetland habitat. The Nature Study Area is open between 8:00am and 7:00pm Monday through Saturday and features a visitor center open between 11:00am and 6:30pm Tuesday through Saturday.

Park Amenities:

Trails, a visitor center, educational activities, and tables/benches.

Park Highlights

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Park History

Click the image to read each topic's full text!

The Nature Study Area

Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation added this exciting 219-acre nature study area in 2020. Along with Oxbow and Swan Lake Nature Study Areas, the Rosewood Nature Study Area provides the community with a wetland to learn about waterfowl and other creatures. The mixture of paved and natural trails provides recreation and beauty. This unique habitat has undergone many changes over the 150+ years since settlers arrived in the vicinity.

Most recently, this was the site of Rosewood Lakes Golf Course, closed in June 2015 when the Veterans Parkway cut across the golf course. Rosewood Lakes was owned by the City of Reno, and it was decided not to rebuild the golf course but to use the land for the nature study area.

The old golf course was taken over by Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation in 2019 and opened in 2020. Through partnership and an advisory board, TMPF restored the area to a functional wetland system while providing educational and recreational opportunities for the community.

Image: Improvements being made to Nature Study Area with a grant from Union Pacific Railroad.

The Jones Ranch

The property was once part of Jones Ranch. The Jones family was amongst the first pioneer settlers and came to Nevada while it was still the Utah Territory. Robert Jones and his wife Jane were both natives of England. Robert came to Nevada with the first immigrant outfit after the Mountain Meadow massacre. Jane is described as “one of the sturdy women who crossed the plains in the early days.” They married and settled in Gold Hill in 1858, and established a dairy with a milk route. Their son Robert Franklin Jones was the first white child to be born on the Comstock in 1860.

After the Comstock busted, the family moved down to the meadows, raising cattle on their ranch. In the early 1900s, a portion of the Jones ranch was leased to a group of Reno sportsmen to use as a hunting preserve.

The family is listed as having a large ranch house on Glendale Road, which burned down in 1892. It was valued at over $5,000. Robert Jones passed away in 1903, followed by Jane in 1915.

Image: Gold Hill, Nevada around 1867. Source: Library of Congress from US Army Corp of Engineers.

The Arrival of Apartments and Condominiums

In the early 1970s, portions of the once large Jones Ranch were eyed for potential residential development. The Donner Springs development was built on a portion of the former ranch at the foot of Rattlesnake Mountain by Lewis Homes in the ‘70s.

Developer Michael Dermody announced in 1985 that he planned to seek approval to build 1,400 condominiums, apartments, and townhouses on a 100-acre parcel in Jones Ranch. In return, Darmody would build an 18-hole municipal golf course on an adjoining 250 acres. The Airport Authority had recently taken over Reno’s municipal Brookside Golf Course as part of an airport expansion project, so a replacement course was appealing. In 1986, an agreement was reached in which the city received the land and water rights from Dermody for building the golf course, valued at $1.5 million, but it would take another two years before the city got started on the project.

Image: Michael Dermody, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Dermody Properties. Source: Dermody Properties website.

Rosewood Lakes Golf Course

Reno City Council approved a new golf course on this property in 1988. The Army Corps of Engineers was involved since the project could not impact the water quality in the Truckee River.

The story goes that the developer, Dermody Properties, partnered with Taylor Woodrow out of Great Britain. When the 84-year old chairman of the board, Lord Frank Taylor visited the site, he was inspired by plans for tree-lined streets of homes with views of Mt. Rose and suggested the name Rosewood. The City Council agreed and officially named the course Rosewood Lakes Municipal Golf Course.

The new 18-hole golf course opened on July 15, 1991, at a cost of $6 million. The course was 6,693 yards from the gold tees and 6,104 from the blues.
Rosewood Lakes Golf Course closed in June of 2015 as the construction of the southeast connector (Veterans Parkway) cut through the course.

Image: Clubhouse of Rosewood Lakes Golf Course
Source: www.renogolf.com.

Other Points of Interest

Boynton Slough:
John W. Boynton was a Nevada early pioneer and had a ranch in the area in the 1880s, and his son John Wesley Boynton was born on the ranch in 1903. The ranch was used for grazing by cattle such as Holstein Heifers, and a newspaper article from 1887 mentions fresh creamed butter from the ranch. Local fishermen caught catfish in the slough.

The ranch was offered for sale in 1907. At that time the ranch had 700 acres and cut 1500 tons of hay a day. In 1925, the Boynton Ranch was owned by the Union Land and Cattle Company, and the land had been leased to J. B. Humphrey.

Kimlick Ranch:
Just north of the Truckee Meadows Nature Study Area is Kimlick Road, named after the Kimlick Ranch. The ranch was owned by Robert Flick and his wife Margaret in what was known as the Glendale District. At one point, a portion of the property was part of the Mapes Ranch. The ranch home and some of the property was sold to Harry Sherwood and Joseph Skoff of San Francisco in 1946.

Image: Boynton Slough. Source: Lurana Cancilla, Google Maps.

Get Involved!

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Volunteer:

Support our parks by volunteering with the Parks Foundation! Attend a volunteer event or choose an ongoing role. Click here to explore opportunities.

iNaturalist:

Out in our parks or open spaces? Try cataloguing the biodiversity around you with iNaturalist! All it takes is downloading the iNaturalist app onto your phone to get started.

Curious what's been seen in this park? Click the link below to see what species other have spotted!

Rosewood Nature Study Area on iNaturalist

Contact:

Have a question about our parks or the Parks Project? Email us at parksproject@tmparksfoundation.org!

Want To Learn More?

References & Further Info:

Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation - Rosewood Nature Study Area
Advertisement: The Estates. (1991, July 8). Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 32.
Anderson, T. (1979, September 22). Lewis Homes: Building what people can buy. Reno Evening Gazette , p. 7A.
Arriving settlers found many businesses. (2004, June 4). Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 65.
Boynton funeral is largely attended. (1915, February 5). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 7.
Brenn, C. (1991, January 6). Blasting a path for new homes. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. B1.
Cal Neva appeals expansion denial to Reno Council. (1978, October 21). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 13.
Capurro, E. G. (1973, August 5). Recent sale recalls history of pioneer Truckee Meadows ranch. Nevada State Journal , p. 36.
Cartwright, M. (1985, July 11). Golf course developers ain for '88 tee off. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 1C.
Citizen committee formed. (1978, December 18). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 24.
Death of a pioneer. (1903, October 12). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 4.
Forty years ago today. (1932, June 1). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 4.
Frank, B. (1986, August 4). Warehouse kings build empire. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 1E.
Gold Hill's first child dies on the coast. (1937, February 5). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 16.
Golf names apply at Hidden Valley. (1957, November 15). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 13.
Honey-dew hay. (1884, July 17). Daily Nevada State Journal , p. 3.
John W. Boynton pioneer family member passes. (1962, August 27). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 10.
Lundahl, M. (1988, October 25). Council OKs golf course project. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 2C.
McClary, R. (1990, June 6). Water aplenty for turf at new Reno golf course. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 3B.
Mobile home dweller: welcome or unwanted? (1972, April 11). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 22.
Murray, C. (2016, August 21). The merky future of local golf. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 4C.
Obituary: Bessie Jones Ellis. (1972, November 25). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 13.
Obituary: Mres. Jane Jones. (1915, January 12). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 1.
Obituary: Lester Jones. (1957, December 2). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 11.
Old timer says. (1930, October 2). Nevada State Journal , p. 4.
Proposed Truckee Meadows Nature Study Area. (n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2020, from Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation: https://www.tmparksfoundation.org/proposed-tmnsa
Sloan, J. (1986, September 21). Golf course stirs environmental worries. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 24A.
Trent, J. (1991, June 13). Rosewood Lakes hopoes to be the 'people's course'. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 3D.
Trent, J. (1991, July 14). Unassuming holes contain subtle danger. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 4D.
Twenty-five years ago. (1929, October 28). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 4.
Voyles, S. (1990, March 19). New name suits golf course to a tee. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 3B.
W. D. Calligan dies suddenly. (1925, October 19). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 8.

Contributor(s):

Jill Richardson (history)

Elena Larsen

Alex Shahbazi

Last Updated:

June 8, 2021, 10:21:56 PM

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