Dean Creek Wildlife Area, Wildlife reserve in Reedsport, Oregon, United States.

Dean Creek Wildlife Area is a 1,040-acre wildlife management area near Reedsport, Oregon, jointly run by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Bureau of Land Management. About 440 acres of pasture and wetland are visible from the road, while the remaining 600 acres are conifer and hardwood woodland.

Elk have used this ground since the 1930s, when native salt marshes were drained and freshwater was allowed to irrigate the grasslands. Area farmers grazed cattle here until 1991, when the Bureau of Land Management and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife took over management. That same year a covered interpretive center was built with $85,000 raised privately by a local community group.

The O.H. Hinsdale Interpretive Center, supported by community efforts, teaches visitors about Roosevelt elk and other native species of the Pacific Northwest. The center helps people understand the animals that define this landscape.

Two viewing platforms with parking areas and restroom facilities allow visitors to watch the resident elk herd throughout the year. The accessible infrastructure makes the site practical to visit regardless of mobility level.

The elk are present because farmers drained the native salt marshes and let freshwater irrigate the grasslands; the resulting pasture has held elk since the 1930s. The herd numbers about 100 Roosevelt elk, the largest North American elk subspecies, and shares the site with beaver, muskrat, coyotes, red-legged frogs and great blue herons.