Uncompahgre National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 955,229

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s (1,492.55 sq mi, or 3,865.68 km²) in (in descending order of land area) parts of Montrose,

Mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

, San Miguel, Ouray, Gunnison, Hinsdale, San Juan, and

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

Counties in western

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the 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 western edge of t ...

. Its headquarters are in Delta County, in the city of

. It borders 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, Montezuma ...

to the south. Within the national forest boundaries can be found the arid

Uncompahgre Plateau The Uncompahgre Plateau in western Colorado is a distinctive large uplift part of the Colorado Plateau. is a Ute word that describes the water: "Dirty Water" or "Rocks that make Water Red". The plateau, with an average elevation of , rises fro ...

and the northern portion of the

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

. The forest contains three

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

s: Uncompahgre (formerly the Big Blue Wilderness),

Mount Sneffels Mount Sneffels is the List of Colorado mountain ranges, highest summit of the Sneffels Range in the Rocky Mountains of North America. The Topographic prominence, prominent fourteener is located in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness of Uncompahgre N ...

, and

Lizard Head Lizard Head is a mountain summit in the San Miguel Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The thirteener is located in the Lizard Head Wilderness, west by south ( bearing 258°) of the Town of Ophir, Colorado, United Stat ...

. Uncompahgre National Forest was established on June 14, 1905. The Uncompahgre,

Grand Mesa The Grand Mesa is a large mesa in western Colorado in the United States. It is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world. It has an area of about and stretches for about east of Grand Junction between the Colorado River and the Gunniso ...

, and Gunnison National Forests were all administered separately until 1954 when Grand Mesa and Uncompahgre started to be administered as a single unit, with Gunnison added in 1973. Today, Uncompahgre National Forest is administered jointly with the Grand Mesa and Gunnison National Forests from the Forest Supervisor's Office in Delta, Colorado. There are local ranger district offices located in Montrose, Gunnison, and Norwood.

Recreation

The varied climate, sparse population, and abundance of sun make the Uncompahgre National Forest popular with jeepers, atv'ers, sight seers, and hikers. A common recreational activity within the Forest boundaries is scenic driving, thanks in part to the

Million Dollar Highway U.S. Route 550 (US 550) is a spur of U.S. Highway 50 that runs from Bernalillo, New Mexico to Montrose, Colorado in the western United States. The section from Silverton to Ouray is frequently called the Million Dollar Highway.

. Some other local attractions include Trout Lake and Bridal Veil Falls, near Telluride. There are several dirt roads within the Uncompahgre; some are mining roads left from the 1800s mineral rush, others are occasionally used by the Forest Service. Paved roads include the

San Juan Skyway The San Juan Skyway Scenic and Historic Byway is a All-American Road, National Forest Scenic Byway, and Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway located in Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma, San Juan, and San Miguel counties, Colorado, ...

, Alpine Loop, the Unaweep-Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway and Owl Creek Pass, which is gravel. File:Uncompahgre National Forest location in Colorado.png, Colorado with Uncompahgre National Forest in red File:Million Dollar Highway 10 2006 09 13.jpg, The

along the

Uncompahgre Gorge The Uncompahgre Gorge is a deep mountain canyon formed by the Uncompahgre River and Red Mountain Creek in the Uncompahgre National Forest. It is located just south of Ouray, in Ouray County, Colorado. At the north end of the Gorge the Uncompah ...

, just south of

Ouray, Colorado Ouray () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Ouray County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 1,000 as of the 2010 census. The Ouray Post Office has the ZIP Code 81427. Located at an elevation of , Ouray's clim ...

Wilderness areas

There are three officially designated

s lying within Uncompahgre National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. One of them lies mostly in a neighboring National Forest, while another one extends onto land that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (as indicated). *

Lizard Head Wilderness The Lizard Head Wilderness is a wilderness area in southwest Colorado. It contains and is jointly managed by the Uncompahgre and San Juan National Forests. It is southwest of the town of Telluride and is named for a prominent rock formation t ...

(mostly in San Juan NF) *

Mount Sneffels Wilderness The Mount Sneffels Wilderness is a wilderness area in southwest Colorado managed by the Uncompahgre National Forest. It is about west of the town of Ouray. The area is named for Mt. Sneffels, which at is a prominent fourteener in the San Ju ...

Uncompahgre Wilderness The Uncompahgre Wilderness (formerly called the Big Blue Wilderness) is a U.S. Wilderness Area in southwest Colorado comprising . Elevation in the Wilderness ranges from to , at the summit of Uncompahgre Peak. Managed by the Uncompahgre Natio ...

(partly on

BLM BLM most commonly refers to: * Black Lives Matter, an international anti-racism movement and organization * Bureau of Land Management, a U.S. federal government agency BLM may also refer to: Organizations * BLM (law firm), United Kingdom and ...

land)

References

External links

Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests
(United States Forest Service)

{{Authority control National Forests of Colorado National Forests of the Rocky Mountains Colorado Western Slope Protected areas of Gunnison County, Colorado Protected areas of Hinsdale County, Colorado Protected areas of Mesa County, Colorado Protected areas of Montrose County, Colorado Protected areas of Ouray County, Colorado Protected areas of San Miguel County, Colorado

Recreation

Wilderness areas

See also

References

External links