The area around Trout Creek Hill contains the Wind River Experimental Forest, which contains Western hemlock, Douglas fir, and Pacific silver fir. Known as the cradle of forest research in the Pacific Northwest, the Wind River Forest represents a center for ecological research. It lies east of Vancouver, Washington, and it is administered by the United States Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The forest encloses ponds, streams, and wetland marshes, with other conifers present including grand firs, noble firs, and Pacific yews, western red cedars, as well as other tree species consisting of bigleaf maples, black cottonwoods, Pacific dogwoods, and red alders. Smaller plants include shrubs in the understory such as big huckleberry, Oregon grape, Pacific rhododendron, red huckleberry, salal, and vine maple. Other forest floor plants include the brackenfern, prince's pine, swordfern, trillium, twinflower, queencup beadlily, and vanilla leaf, with beargrass and huckleberry at higher elevations.