The Hermosa Creek Wilderness is a
U.S. Wilderness Area
The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...
in
La Plata County,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
. It s located in the
San Juan National Forest
The San Juan National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering over 1,878,846 acres (2,935.7 sq mi, or 7,603.42 km²) in western Colorado. The forest occupies land in Archuleta, Conejos, Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mineral, Montezu ...
north of
Durango. It was established by the Hermosa Creek Protection Act of 2014, which also created the adjacent Hermosa Creek Special Management Area, which shares its eastern border,
Hermosa Creek. Elevation in the wilderness ranges from along Hermosa Creek to at the high point of Indian Trail Ridge.
Geology
Sedimentary rocks form the landscape of the Hermosa Creek Wilderness. The majority of the wilderness consists of beds of
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon.
The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838
by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...
sediments. The oldest rocks, from the Molas and
Hermosa formations (
Pennsylvanian), were deposited in marine environments. Then, in the
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last ...
period, there was a transition from marine to terrestrial deposits in the area as the Uncompahgre Highland was uplifted to the north. Sediments eroded from these mountains were deposited here and are found in the Rico and
Cutler formations.
Along Indian Trail Ridge, the highest terrain in the wilderness, the Paleozoic sediments are capped by younger
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
sedimentary rocks of the Dolores Formation. Along the southern, highest extent of Indian Trail Ridge, there are yet younger Jurassic rocks of the
Morrison Formation and
Entrada Sandstone
The Entrada Sandstone is a formation in the San Rafael Group found in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Colorado, northwest New Mexico, northeast Arizona, and southeast Utah. Part of the Colorado Plateau, this formation was deposited during the Jur ...
that cap the ridge.
[
Noticeably lacking in the wilderness are ]volcanic
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...
lavas, tuffs, and conglomerates common in other areas of the San Juan Mountains.[
The wilderness was weakly ]glaciated
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
, and the area lacks distinctive glacial features. Glacial processes along the eastern side of Indian Trail Ridge show subtle cirque characteristics.
Flora and fauna
Over 90% of the wilderness is forested, and the most common vegetation type, occupying 42% of the wilderness, is subalpine forest dominated by Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir. While the wilderness has experienced repeated disturbances through the years, one third of the spruce-fir forests here are old growth stands that have avoided decimating fires, disease, insect outbreaks, and logging for centuries. Below the subalpine forests are montane forests
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...
where Douglas fir is often dominant. Southwestern white pine
''Pinus strobiformis'', commonly known as southwestern white pine, Mexican white pine or Chihuahua white pine, is a medium-sized white pine tree whose native habitat is in southwestern United States and Mexico. It is typically a high-elevation p ...
, white fir
''Abies concolor'', the white fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Cascade Range and southern Rocky Mountains, and into the isolated mountain ranges ...
, ponderosa pine, and Colorado blue spruce are also found. Significant stands of aspen occur in the wilderness on historically disturbed sites in both the subalpine and montane zones. Aspen stands cover 27% of the wilderness.[
The wilderness provides ]habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
for mule deer
The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer.
Unlike the related whi ...
and elk, both popular game animals. Other mammals include black bears, bobcats
The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...
, coyotes, martens, porcupines, marmots, chickarees, and pikas. Waters in the wilderness are home to the native Colorado River cutthroat trout
The Colorado River cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarki pleuriticus'') is a subspecies of cutthroat trout native only to the Green and Colorado River basins, which are west of the Continental Divide. Cutthroat trout found in other river basins ...
. Also present are two non-native, introduced species: brook trout and rainbow trout.[
]
Hiking
Travel through the wilderness is limited to those on foot and horseback. There are only two trails in the wilderness, and both follow creeks from their headwaters on the western border of the wilderness down to the eastern border of the wilderness along Hermosa Creek. The Salt Creek Trail (Forest Trail 559) is long and descends in elevation. The Clear Creek Trail (Forest Trail 550) is long and descends in elevation. Only one trailhead provides direct access to these trails. The Clear Creek Trailhead (elevation ) allows access to the western terminus of the Clear Creek Trail. Accessing either end of the Salt Creek Trail and the eastern terminus of the Clear Creek requires hiking on popular mechanized (bicycle) and motor vehicle use trails that encircle the wilderness.[Trailhead and trail information is available a]
Colorado Trail Explorer
This includes information on th
Salt Creek Trail
and th
Clear Creek Trail
Off-trail distances can also be computed. Accessed 25 February 2021
References
{{Protected Areas of Colorado, state=collapsed
Wilderness areas of Colorado