Clear Fork Divide

14,250 acres (22.3 square miles)

How to get there
The East Willow section of the proposed Clear Fork Divide Wilderness Area is located about 20 miles SSE of Silt, and 20 miles SW of Carbondale. Access is best from Silt or Glenwood Springs.

• From Glenwood Springs, take Garfield County Road 117 to Sunlight Ski Area. The road becomes Thompson Creek Road (FS 300). Follow signs to Haystack Gate, where you must get onto West Divide Creek Road (FS 800; high clearance necessary) and go southwest toward Haystack Mountain. Just after crossing West Divide Ck, you can get on FS 808 (to your left), and take this rugged road up to the ridge that divides West Divide Ck from East Muddy Ck to the south. Or, hike through the unit on the Jones Creek Trail (1901).
• From Silt, go south on County Road 331 and eventually take a left on West Divide Creek Road (CR 344; high clearance). This becomes FS 800 at the forest boundary, and leads you directly to Haystack Mountain, with the roadless area to the south.
• The 4WD Texas Hill Road (FS8 841) climbs over the divide on the western boundary of the unit, and connects to FS 265 on the other side. From here, Owens Creek Road (FS 268) enters the Willow Creek drainage on the southern boundary.
• The USGS 7 1⁄2' quads for the East Willow section of the proposed Clear Fork Divide Wilderness Area are Quaker Mesa, Elk Knob, Flatiron Mountain, and Spruce Mountain.

Setting
The East Willow section of the proposed Clear Fork Divide Wilderness Area occupies rolling terrain on the north side of the divide between the Colorado and Gunnison River basins. The lower elevatins contain vast expanses of mountain shrub community, important habitat for deer and key to the qualities that rate this area as part of the best black bear habitat in the state of Colorado. The upper elevations feature spruce/fir forest, but the area is most impressive for its extensive aspen stands. East Willow contains all three branches of Willow Creek, which are the headwaters for West Divide Creek. The elevation here ranges from 7,800 feet down at East Willow Creek to 10,000 feet on the divide.

What's special about it?
This section of the proposed Wilderness Area is prime elk habitat, and is an important area for hunters. The aspen forests are calving ground for the elk. This section is part of a much larger roadless complex that includes the Clear Fork RA on the Gunnison National Forest, and the Thompson Creek/Hayes Creek/Assignation Ridge RAs on the WRNF. This 122,000 acre roadless complex is the largest unprotected roadless area in the state. Importantly, it serves as a rare, mid-elevation wildland corridor that links the high Elk Range with the Grand and Battlement Mesas to the west.

Potential threats
This Area receives heavy use, especially by hunters in the fall. There is a problem in this Area with illegal off-road vehicle use. Given its remoteness and the USFS's lack of law enforcement capacity, bandit route creation is a significant threat to the integrity of the area. Currently, there is a proposal to run a natural gas pipeline through the unit and change the management plan zoning from wildlife habitat to a utility corridor. This would bisect the East Willow RA, destroying much of its wild character. The area is also threatened by natural gas development and portions of it are already leased.

Other info
Conservation groups have identified another 773 acres of roadless area that the WRNF inappropriately excluded from its inventory (see map). When combined with the Clear Fork, Baldy Mountain, Thompson Creek, Assignation Ridge, and Hayes Creek roadless areas, the size of the resulting roadless complex is 122,000 acres!

8,230 acres (12.9 square miles) of BLM lands

How to get there:

·          From Highway 133 in Carbondale, turn west at Main Street, which quickly becomes Thompson Creek Road (CR 108) In approximately 7.4 miles, Forest Road 305 branches left. This road crosses Thompson Creek in another 2.4 miles, where a trailhead denotes the route downstream.

·          From Highway 131 look for the Perham Creek Trail roughly 6 miles north of Redstone. 

·          From Redstone take Forest Road 307 west about 3.5 miles to the Braderich Trail #1952.

Setting

Elevation in this area ranges between 6,600 and 10,700 feet. Thompson Creek Canyon is reminiscent of a western slope "Garden of the Gods," containing geologic strata and vertical faulted hogbacks of the same geologic era as that of the Colorado Springs phenomenon and also includes an outpouring of gypsum which formed the epicenter for a number of minor earthquakes in the Carbondale area a few years ago.

Thompson Creek itself is a beautiful stream with undisturbed woods ranging from cottonwoods and ponderosa pine to scrub oak, pinyon-juniper, Douglas fir, and aspen. The forests provide a haven for wildlife including elk, bear, mountain lion, wild turkey, and small game, as well as the ever-present deer.

What's special about it?

The area contains leftovers of trestles and the long abandoned grade of the Aspen and Western Railroad in the lower canyon. The railway grade and the Thompson Creek streambed provide a scenic pathway for hikers and cross-country skiers.

The area contains a riparian zone, significant in ecology, environmental management and civil engineering due to its role in soil conservation, biodiversity and the influence they have on aquatic ecosystems. Riparian zones are important natural biofilters, protecting aquatic environments from excessive sedimentation, polluted surface runoff and erosion. They supply shelter and food for many aquatic animals and shade that is an important part of stream temperature regulation.

Potential Threats

Although no oil and gas development has occurred in Thompson Creek Canyon, parts of the region are leased for oil and gas. Some seismic activity has occurred just to the west of the unit. Future leasing of the canyon itself is restricted to No Surface Occupancy.

Extensive grazing exists along South Thompson Creek and Braderich Creek. Some ORV use occurs on the northern most section of the unit below Assignation Ridge..

Other Info

The BLM designated Thompson Creek an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. (ACEC) Thompson Creek has also been considered as a possible addition to the potential Wild and Scenic River designation of the Crystal River

13,180 acres (20.6 square miles)

How to get there
Assignation Ridge RA is located 6 miles south of Carbondale, and just NW of Redstone.

• From Carbondale take State Highway (SH) 133 to the south. The Perham Creek Trail begins on the west side of the highway about 3 miles south of the forest boundary. This trail crosses Assignation Ridge to South Thompson Creek.
• From Redstone, turn west on FS 307 toward Coal Basin. About 3 miles up this road is the Braderich Creek trailhead (1952) on the right. This trail goes north to South Thompson Creek, and is the western boundary of the unit.
• The USGS 7 1/2' quads for Assignation Ridge RA are Stony Ridge, Mount Sopris, Placita, and Redstone.

Setting
The Assignation Ridge section of the proposed Clear Fork Divide Wilderness Area sits on the divide between the Crystal River and South Thompson Creek. The bulk of the unit consists of rolling hills and craggy drainages covered in diverse plant communities. These include aspen, mountain shrubs, sagebrush, Gambel oak, Douglas fir, and piñon/juniper. The precipitous slopes near the eastern boundary of the unit display enormous red sandstone cliffs that tower over the Crystal River valley, and give the Town of Redstone its name. The elevation ranges from 6,700 feet at the Crystal River to 10,614 feet on the divide.

What's special about it?
This portion of the proposed Clear Fork Divide Wilderness Area, despite its proximity to the Town of Carbondale, is very much undisturbed, and retains a wild and natural quality. The area is well-known for its large diversity of plant communities, and has been proposed to be a Research Natural Area by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program. The Area also contains part of CNHP's Middle Thompson Creek Potential Conservation Area, and is adjacent to the Smith Gulch Potential Conservation Area.
The Assignation Ridge section of the proposed Clear Fork Divide Wilderness Area is part of a critical big game migration corridor between the Maroon Bells/Snowmass Wilderness and the Thompson Creek section of the proposed Wilderness Area. It also provides access to lower elevation winter range on BLM lands to the north that are proposed for Wilderness designation.

The Crystal River has been proposed to be Wild & Scenic River, and the Assignation Ridge area provides a significant scenic backdrop to this valley. Trails in the area are popular with hikers and horseback riders, and a moderate amount of elk hunters are present in the fall. There are also popular ice-climbing areas on the sandstone cliffs along the Crystal River.

The WRNF recommended this section of the proposed Wilderness Area for designation in the 2002 Revised Forest Plan and is being managed to not impair its wilderness qualities until Congress acts on this recommendation. Until then, the area's Recommended Wilderness status could easily be changed to a zoning that allows ecologically damaging activities like natural gas development and timber harvest.

Potential threats
The primary threat to this area is natural gas developoment that could forever ruin the wild character of this area. Illegal motorized uses are also becoming more widespread, threatening to significantly fragment and degrade the ecology of the area.

Other info
There are two active cattle allotments in the unit. The Assignation Ridge RA is contiguous with an 8,148 acre roadless section of BLM lands to the north, near Carbondale. In addition, conservation groups have identified 4,398 more acres of roadless area adjacent to the SW portion of the unit, acerage left out of the USFS' recommended - the Forest Service inappropriately declared lands west of the Braderich Creek Trail as incapable of wilderness designation due to mountain bike usage of the trail.  The total size of this roadless complex is 25,812 acres (40.3 square miles).

4,165 acres (6.5 square miles)

How to get there
The proposed Hayes Creek Wilderness Area is located 16 miles south of Carbondale and just across the Crystal River south of Redstone. It is bounded on the east by Highway 133 between Redstone and the bottom of McClure Pass, on the north by the Forest Service Coal Creek Road 307 and the old Mine #4 Road 307.1C. On the west side it merges with the 59,395-acre Clear Fork Roadless Area on the Gunnison National Forest.

The most popular and scenic access to the area is via Forest Service Huntsman Ridge Road 517, which begins on the north side of Highway 133 just 2 tenths of a mile east of McClure Pass. Parking is available at the trailhead or on the south side of the highway at the top of the pass. The Huntsman Ridge Road is currently open to all modes of transportation in the summer, but to protect the route from further erosion and to fully enjoy the surrounding wild areas we recommend hiking it. The road is closed to motorized use in the winter, making Huntsman Ridge a local favorite for snowshoeing and telemarking.

Setting
The proposed Hayes Creek Wilderness Area is at the southern end of a mid-elevation mountainous ridge that runs from Chair Mountain in the Raggeds Wilderness north to Glenwood Springs where it merges into the Grand Hogback � all part of the geologically complex eastern edge of the Colorado Plateau. This geological juncture is also an ecological link between the Southern Rockies and the Plateau; Hayes Creek, small as it is in acreage, is the keystone in this wild connection between the existing Maroon Bells and Raggeds Wilderness Areas and the Clear Fork, East Willow, Thompson Creek and Assignation Ridge roadless areas that reach deeper into the plateau country and connecting the spine of the rockies to the Grand and Battlement Mesas. All together they form a connected wild area of over 122,000 acres that is one of the centerpieces of the Hidden Gems wilderness proposal.

What's special about it?
In addition to its value as a wildlife corridor, Hayes Creek has seen little human incursion into its core due to the lack of trails and seep, mountainous hillsides flanking its east side. As such, it provides terrific wildlife security for species such as deer, elk, bear, and lynx.

Potential threats
Portions of the proposed Hayes Creek Wilderness Area have already been leased for oil and gas development and there are still undeveloped coal resources deep under Huntsman Ridge. The terribly eroded road from traveling into the area from the top of McClure pass provides a launch point for damaging ORV use along Huntsman Ridge and down into the Hayes Creek basin itself. Traveling virtually straight up the fall line, the road is an erosive mess and ought to be closed and rehabed.

54,470 acres (85.1 square miles)

How to get there
From Highway 133, turn west on 265 (the Collbran road). There are numerous access points off of 265, FS 844 being the principal one.

Setting
Located in a remote area of northwestern Gunnison County, the Clear Fork unit spans the headwaters of East Muddy Creek, ranging in elevation from 7,500 feet along Highway 133 to over 11,000 feet along Huntsman Ridge.

What’s special about it?
The Clear Fork landscapes are the epitome of the American West. Rolling mountains blanketed with vast, majestic aspen and old-growth spruce forests stand guard over numerous creeks. These remote forests are a haven for elk, mountain lion, bighorn sheep, lynx and cutthroat trout. Some of the best black bear core habitat area in the state is also found here.

The Clear Fork unit is the largest of five contiguous roadless areas that together comprise the 94,300 -acre Clear Fork Divide roadless complex. (These roadless areas are separated only for administrative reasons; under the Hidden Gems proposal, three of them – Clear Fork, Hayes Creek and East Willow – would be merged to form a new, standalone Clear Fork Divide Wilderness.) These roadless areas have been recognized by the Colorado Division of Wildlife as high-priority habitat for a variety of species, and collectively they provide a critical east-west migration corridor between the Grand and Battlement Mesas and the Elk Range, part of the main stem of the Rocky Mountains.

The Clear Fork roadless area has particularly fine aspen stands, which form part of  an unbroken forest that extends southeastwards all the way to Kebler Pass. Some claim that this is the largest continuous aspen forest in the world.

Potential threats
The Clear Fork Roadless Area lies near the southern fringe of the gas-rich Piceance Basin formation, and most of it has been leased by energy companies. Whether the companies will find it profitable to develop their leases is an open question, but the threat of drilling hangs over the area. A look at what has happened to areas north and west of here shows what drilling brings: roads, well pads, heavy equipment, and impacts to wildlife habitat, water and air quality.

The extensive forest cover and gentle topography of this area also make logging a potential threat.