Mormon Creek

4,402 acres (6.9 square miles)

How to get there

• To reach the proposed Mormon Creek Wilderness Area, drive up Fryingpan Road from Basalt, past Ruedi Reservoir. Two miles past Thomasville, at Biglow, bear left on the North Fork Road (FS 501) .The proposed Wilderness Area begins on your right as you pass Henderson Park. FS 501 continues along the northern boundary of the proposed Wilderness Area and ends at Savage Lakes Trailhead. Turn right at Henderson Park on FS 538 to drive along the southern boundary of the RA.
• The USGS 7 1/2’ quad for the proposed Mormon Creek Wilderness Area is Nast.

Setting
The proposed Mormon Creek Wilderness Area is an expansion of the Holy Cross Wilderness. It consists of a heavily-wooded mountain that divides Cunningham Creek from the North Fork Fryingpan River. Lodgepole pines dominate the lower reaches with aspens and spruce/fir forests up higher. The elevation ranges from 9300 feet near Henderson Park to 11,800 feet on the Mormon/Cunningham divide. The terrain is generally steep and there are no developed trails in the proposal area.

What’s special about it?
The proposed Mormon Creek Wilderness Area is a steep and heavily-wooded arm of the Sawatch Range, retaining a wild, primitive quality. In addition to being summer range for deer and elk, this unit is part of the Colorado Natural Heritage Program’s North Fork Fryingpan Potential Conservation Area. It also contains riparian areas and wetland plant communities of high biodiversity significance, and the southern half of the unit has been identified as high-priority habitat by the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Cunningham Creek on the southern boundary is a fishery for the Colorado River cutthroat trout — a species listed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife as a “Species of Special Concern.” The Fryingpan River headwaters area is considered prime lynx habitat because of places like the proposed Mormon Creek Wilderness Area.

Potential threats
The steep slopes of this proposed Wilderness Area make it unsuitable for logging and the roads it would require. But, it is not inconceivable that the area’s timber wouldn't attract those willing to profit from the wood fiber, leaving the public with the clean up costs. Other than some fishing and hunting on the creeks at its boundaries and some dispersed camping, the proposed Mormon Creek Wilderness Area sees little, if any additional recreational use.

Other info
The Mormon water diversion tunnel runs underneath the unit. The proposed Mormon Creek Wilderness Area is one of ten Roadless Areas that, together with the Holy Cross Wilderness Area, comprise a roadless complex of over 165,000 acres (257 square miles). The White River National Forest officially recommended that the Mormon Creek area be added to the Holy Cross Wilderness Area. It is currently being managed as a Wilderness so as not to impair its Wilderness values until Congress has the opportunity to act upon the USFS recommendation.