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 Contact Information:

Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation (775) 410-1702

Park Highlights

1/1

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.