Grizzly Creek

USFS:  43,995 acres (68.7 square miles)
BLM:  4,376 acres (6.8 square miles)
Total:  48,370 acres (75.6 square miles)

How to get there
The proposed Grizzly Creek Wilderness Area is located 2 miles northeast of Glenwood Springs. Approach the area from I-70.

• About 2 miles east of Glenwood Springs, get off I-70 at No Name (Exit 119). At the end of the short road, begin hiking up the No Name Trail (1847). You will pass water diversion structures and a rock climbing area on the way into the beautiful canyon. This trail follows No Name Creek north through the unit and leads to the Transfer Trail Road (FS 602; 4WD) on Quartzite Ridge. The East No Name Trail (1849) branches off and follows the creek of that name to Bowen Lake Road (FS 631).
• About 5 miles east of Glenwood Springs, get off I-70 at Grizzly Creek (Exit 122?). Hike up the Grizzly Creek Trail (2065) through the spectacular canyon. The trail goes all the way to a meeting with the Broken Rib Trail (1849), which climbs out of the creek east to Broken Rib Spring on the Coffeepot Road (FS 600).
• Conservationists identified a much larger Grizzly Creek roadless area than the USFS did. To access the remaining “unofficial” roadless area, you may hike up Defiance Trail from the Shoshone Exit on I-70, or to Hanging Lake or Dead Horse Trail (1851) from the Hanging Lake Exit. You may also explore the area from the Coffeepot Road (FS 600) which begins near Dotsero, by traveling the Dead Horse (FS 622; 4WD), Wagon Gulch (FS 623; 4WD), or Grizzly Jeep (FS 632; 4WD) Roads, all of which branch south from FS 600. The nasty Transfer Trail Road (FS 602: 4WD) climbs north from Glenwood Springs and connects the loop around the WRCC roadless area.
• The USGS 7 1⁄2' quads for the proposed Grizzly Creek Wilderness Area are Shoshone, Broken Rib Spring, Glenwood Springs, and Carbondale.

Setting
The proposed Grizzly Creek Wilderness Area includes the No Name and Grizzly Creek drainages. No Name flows from Quartzite Ridge, a southerly extension of the White River Plateau, while Grizzly Creek flows from the main Plateau. The plateau is a huge uplifted highland with gently rolling terrain, and vast open grasslands. These creeks carve deeply into this uplift and, before emptying into the Colorado River, are 1,500 feet deep with towering limestone cliffs.

One can see Douglas fir and limber pine on the canyon slopes, islands of Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir in the uplands, aspen on the canyon rims, and cottonwoods, alders, willows, and even Ponderosa pines along the creeks. the lower, steep slopes are covered in Gambel oak brush. The elevations in the unit range from 6,000 feet along lower No Name Creek, to 9,800 feet on the divide between Grizzly and No Name Creeks.

What’s special about it?
The No Name and Grizzly Creek canyons are particularly stunning. They are deep, narrow, completely undeveloped and are fantastic examples of how wild the hidden gems of the White River National Forest can be. Deer and elk live here in the summer and on sunny, southern-exposed, lower elevation slopes in the winter. The area between Grizzly and No Name Creeks has been proposed as a Conservation Area by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program because of its diverse representation of plant communities. The cliffed walls of the canyons have effectively isolated them from the uplands, further securing these wild corridors.
The trails along the creeks make excellent hiking, horseback riding, and fishing. There is also moderate hunting activity in the fall, but there is no season in which the area receives heavy use. Lower No Name Creek has an established rock climbing area on short gneiss cliffs, and Grizzly Creek has some 1,000-foot plus limestone walls inviting rock climbers and cavers alike for adventurous explorations. The WRNF has designated both the East and West Forks of Deadhorse Creek as a Special Interest Area for the corridor's high biodiversity and unique Bridal Veil Falls/Hanging Lake attractions accessed via the Hanging Lake Rest Area on I-70.

Potential threats
The main threat to this proposed Wilderness Area is from rogue, illegal ORV use invited by the lack of natural barriers on the gently rolling grassy plateau above. The Quartzite Ridge Area was long targetted for timber harvest, indicative of the type of large, old spruce trees in the area that the timber industry would like to get its hands on.