Uncompahgre National Forest

(Redirected from Uncompahgre Forest Reserve) National Forest in western Colorado, United States For other uses, see Uncompahgre (disambiguation).

Uncompahgre National Forest
Wetterhorn Peak in Uncompahgre National Forest

Location	Colorado, United States
Nearest city	Montrose, CO
Coordinates	37°58′59″N 107°46′55″W / 37.983°N 107.782°W / 37.983; -107.782
Area	955,229 acres (3,865.67 km)
Established	June 14, 1905
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service
Website	Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests

Uncompahgre National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 955,229 acres (1,492.55 sq mi, or 3,865.68 km) in (in descending order of land area) parts of Montrose, Mesa, San Miguel, Ouray, Gunnison, Hinsdale, San Juan, and Delta Counties in western Colorado. Its headquarters are in Delta County, in the city of Delta. It borders the San Juan National Forest to the south.

Within the national forest boundaries can be found the arid Uncompahgre Plateau and the northern portion of the San Juan Mountains. The forest contains three alpine wilderness areas: Uncompahgre (formerly the Big Blue Wilderness), Mount Sneffels, and Lizard Head.

Uncompahgre National Forest was established on June 14, 1905. The Uncompahgre, Grand Mesa, 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. 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, Alpine Loop, the Unaweep-Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway and Owl Creek Pass, which is gravel.

In 2024 the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests purchased the West Gold Hill Dinosaur Track site near Ouray, Colorado. The trackway includes 134 fossilized footsteps of a sauropod from the Late Jurassic. It is the world's only existing example of a 270-degree looped turn and has the most continuous steps.

Colorado with Uncompahgre National Forest in red
The Million Dollar Highway along the Uncompahgre Gorge, just south of Ouray, Colorado

Wilderness areas

There are three officially designated wilderness areas 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 (mostly in San Juan NF)
Mount Sneffels Wilderness
Uncompahgre Wilderness (partly on BLM land)

References

Table 6 - NFS Acreage by State, Congressional District and County - United States Forest Service - September 30, 2007
"History of the GMUG National Forest". United States Forest Service.
"San Miguel County". coloradoencyclopedia.org. 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
"GMUG Acquires Rare Dinosaur Trackway, Additions to Silvershield Trail". U.S. Forest Service. April 10, 2024.
Goodell, Zane; Lockley, Martin G.; Lucas, Spencer G.; Schumacher, Bruce A.; Smith, Joshua A.; Trujillo, Rick; Xing, Lida (2021). "A high-altitude sauropod trackway site in the Jurassic of Colorado: the longest known consecutive footprint sequence reveals evidence of sharp turning behavior." (PDF). In Lucas, S. G.; Hunt, A. P.; Lichtig, A. J. (eds.). Fossil Record 7. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. Vol. 82.
Webb, Dennis (2024-04-10). "Globally significant dinosaur tracks near Ouray now in public's hands". The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
"Epic dinosaur trackway in Ouray is now officially public land". The Denver Post. 2024-04-10. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
Kuta, Sarah. "You Can Visit the World's Largest Continuous Dinosaur Trackway, Now on Protected Public Land". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2024-05-13.

External links

Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests (United States Forest Service)
GORP
GORP list of campgrounds

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Protected areas of Colorado

Federal

4 National Parks	Black Canyon of the Gunnison Great Sand Dunes Mesa Verde Rocky Mountain
9 National Monuments	Browns Canyon (BLM-USFS) Camp Hale-Continental Divide (USFS) Canyons of the Ancients (BLM) Chimney Rock (USFS) Colorado Dinosaur Florissant Fossil Beds Hovenweep Yucca House
3 National Historic Sites	Amache Bent's Old Fort Sand Creek Massacre
2 National Recreation Areas	Arapaho (USFS) Curecanti
1 Wild and Scenic River	Cache la Poudre River
4 National Historic Trails	California Trail Old Spanish Trail Pony Express Trail Santa Fe Trail
1 National Scenic Trail	Continental Divide Trail
11 National Forests	Arapaho Grand Mesa Gunnison Medicine Bow–Routt Pike Rio Grande Roosevelt San Isabel San Juan Uncompahgre White River
2 National Grasslands	Comanche Pawnee
44 National Wildernesses	Black Canyon of the Gunnison Black Ridge Canyons Buffalo Peaks Byers Peak Cache La Poudre Collegiate Peaks Comanche Peak Dominguez Canyon Eagles Nest Flat Tops Fossil Ridge Great Sand Dunes Greenhorn Mountain Gunnison Gorge Hermosa Creek Holy Cross Hunter–Fryingpan Indian Peaks James Peak La Garita Lizard Head Lost Creek Maroon Bells-Snowmass Mesa Verde Mount Evans Mount Massive Mount Sneffels Mount Zirkel Neota Never Summer Platte River Powderhorn Ptarmigan Peak Raggeds Rawah Rocky Mountain National Park Sangre de Cristo Sarvis Creek South San Juan Spanish Peaks Uncompahgre Vasquez Peak Weminuche West Elk
3 National Conservation Areas	Dominguez–Escalante Gunnison Gorge McInnis Canyons
8 National Wildlife Refuges	Alamosa Arapaho Baca Browns Park Monte Vista Rocky Flats Rocky Mountain Arsenal Two Ponds
3 National Heritage Areas	Cache la Poudre River Corridor Sangre de Cristo South Park
28 National Historic Landmarks	Beaver Meadows Visitor Center Bent's Old Fort Central City/Black Hawk Historic District Colorado Chautauqua Cripple Creek Historic District Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad Denver Civic Center Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Elitch Gardens Carousel Georgetown–Silver Plume Historic District Granada War Relocation Center Leadville Historic District Lindenmeier site Lowry Pueblo Ludlow Tent Colony Site Mesa Verde Administrative District Minnequa Steel Works Pikes Peak Pike's Stockade Raton Pass Red Rocks Park Shenandoah-Dives Mill Silverton Historic District Telluride Historic District Temple Aaron Trujillo Homesteads United States Air Force Academy, Cadet Area Winks Panorama
16 National Natural Landmarks	Big Spring Creek Garden of the Gods Garden Park Fossil Area Hanging Lake Indian Springs Trace Fossil Natural Area Lost Creek Scenic Area Morrison-Golden Fossil Areas Raton Mesa Roxborough Russell Lakes Sand Creek Slumgullion Earthflow Spanish Peaks Sulphur Cave and Spring Summit Lake West Bijou Site
National Register of Historic Places	National Register of Historic Places listings in Colorado

State

43 State Parks	Arkansas Headwaters Barr Lake Boyd Lake Castlewood Canyon Chatfield Cherry Creek Cheyenne Mountain Crawford Eldorado Canyon Eleven Mile Elkhead Fishers Peak Golden Gate Canyon Harvey Gap Highline Lake Jackson Lake James M. Robb - Colorado River John Martin Reservoir Lake Pueblo Lathrop Lone Mesa Lory Mancos Mueller Navajo North Sterling Paonia Pearl Lake Ridgway Rifle Falls Rifle Gap Roxborough Spinney Mountain St. Vrain Stagecoach State Forest Staunton Steamboat Lake Sweetwater Lake Sweitzer Lake Sylvan Lake Trinidad Lake Vega Yampa River
1 State Forest	State Forest
307 State Wildlife Areas	List of Colorado state wildlife areas
96 State Natural Areas	Aiken Canyon Antero-Salt Creek Arikaree River Badger Wash Blacks Gulch Blue Mountain-Little Thompson Fault Bonny Prairie Boulder Mountain Park Brush Creek Fen California Park Castlewood Canyon Chalk Bluffs Coal Creek Tallgrass Prairie Colorado Tallgrass Prairie Comanche Grassland Copeland Willow Carr Corral Bluffs Cross Mountain Canyon Dakota Hogback Deer Gulch Dome Rock Droney Gulch Duck Creek Dudley Bluffs East Lost Park East Sand Dunes Elephant Rocks Escalante Canyon Fairview Fourmile Creek Fruita Paleontological Garden Park Fossil Gateway Palisade Geneva Basin Iron Fens Gothic Gunnison Gravels Haviland Lake High Creek Fen High Mesa Grassland Hoosier Ridge Hurricane Canyon Indian Spring Indian Springs Trace Fossil Irish Canyon Jimmy Creek Ken-Caryl Ranch Kremmling Cretaceous Ammonite Limestone Ridge Lookout Mountain Lower Greasewood Creek McElmo Mexican Cut Mini-Wheeler Miramonte Reservoir Mishak Lakes Mount Callahan & Logan Wash Mine Mount Emmons Iron Bog Mount Goliath Narraguinnep Needle Rock North Park Phacelia Orient Mine Owl Canyon Pagosa Skyrocket Paradise Park Park Creek Hogback Pyramid Rock Rabbit Valley Rajadero Canyon Raven Ridge Redcloud Peak Rough Canyon Roxborough Ryan Gulch Saddle Mountain San Miguel River Sand Creek Shell Duck Creek Shell Rock Slumgullion Earthflow South Beaver Creek South Boulder Creek South Cathedral Bluffs Specimen Mountain Staunton Tamarack Ranch Treasurevault Mountain Trinidad K-T Boundary Two Buttes Unaweep Seep Wacker Ranch West Creek Wheeler Geologic White Rocks Yanks Gulch/Upper Greasewood Creek Natural Area Zapata Falls
26 Scenic and Historic Byways	Alpine Loop Cache la Poudre-North Park Collegiate Peaks Colorado River Headwaters Dinosaur Diamond Flat Tops Trail Frontier Pathways Gold Belt Tour Grand Mesa Guanella Pass Highway of Legends Lariat Loop Los Caminos Antiguos Mount Blue Sky Pawnee Pioneer Trails Peak to Peak San Juan Skyway Santa Fe Trail Silver Thread South Platte River Trail Top of the Rockies Tracks Across Borders Trail of the Ancients Trail Ridge Road/Beaver Meadow Unaweep Tabeguache West Elk Loop

Trails

28 National Recreation Trails

6 Regional Trails

Colorado Department of Natural Resources

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