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Byers Peak Wilderness Area
Government information and links are at the bottom of this page.
Located in Arapaho and Routt National Forests
Neighboring towns: Empire, Winter Park, Fraser, Tabernash, Granby, Hot Sulphur Springs, Parshall, Kremmling, Dillon
Don't be fooled by the seemingly small size of the Byers Peak Wilderness. Byers Peak is contiguous with the Vasquez Peak Wilderness (both designated in 1993), separated only by the undeveloped headwaters of the Fraser Experimental Forest. The Williams Fork - Ptarmigan Peak roadless area lies directly south, the only barriers being a power line and a water diversion pipeline. So in truth, Byers Peak is one small piece of a larger 100,000 acre roadless complex.
About one half of Byers Peak consists of alpine tundra, and in that fact lies the great attraction of the area. The Byers Peak Trail traverses the entire length of the wilderness, from Bottle Pass to St. Louis Peak, with hardly a dip below treeline. There simply is no finer alpine ridge hiking to be found than in Byers Peak Wilderness. Its geology is typical for Colorado's high country: Precambrian granodiorite and gneiss. Forest cover is similarly typical - lodgepole pine at lower elevations giving way to Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir. Wildlife species mule deer, elk, marmots and ptarmigan, are common sights, but the main lure of the place is the peace and quiet afforded by one of the Rocky Mountains' most obscure wildernesses.
Size: 8,913 acres
Elevation: 9,200 to 12,800 feet
Miles of trails: 23
Year designated: 1993
Hunting areas: 28
For more information contact: Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests,
2150 Centre Ave., Building E, Ft. Collins, CO 80526 (970)295-6600 Supervisor's Office Boulder Ranger District,
2140 Yarmouth St., Boulder, CO 80303 (303)444-6600 Boulder District
Canyon Lakes Ranger District, 2150 Centre Ave., Building E, Ft. Collins, CO
80526 (970)295-6700 Canyon Lakes District
Clear Creek Ranger District, PO Box 3307, Idaho Springs, CO 80452 (303)567-2901 Clear Creek District
Sulphur Ranger District, PO Box 10, Granby, CO 80446 (970)887-4100 Sulphur District
For more information contact: Routt National Forest, Supervisor's Office, 2468 Jackson St., Laramie, WY 82070-6535 (307)745-2300 Fax:(307)745-2398 Hahns Peak - Bears Ears Ranger District, 925 Weiss Drive, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487-9315 (970)879-1870 Fax:(970)870-2284 Parks Ranger District, PO Box 158, 100 Main St., Walden, CO 80480 (970)723-8204 Fax:(970)723-4610 Parks Ranger District, PO Box 1210, 210 S. 6th St., Kremmling, CO 80459 (970)724-9004 Fax:(970)724-3662 Craig Interagency Dispatch Center, 455 Emerson St., Craig, CO 81625 (970)826-5037 Fax:(970)824-6084 Yampa Ranger District, 300 Roselawn Ave., PO Box 7, Yampa, CO 80483 (970)638-4516 Fax:(970)638-4635
NOTE: Eloquent descriptions of our wilderness areas provided by Mark Pearson, author of "The Complete Guide to Colorado's Wilderness Areas", Westcliffe Publishers, Englewood, CO. The book also contains many beautiful pictures by renowned photographer and Colorado resident John Fielder.
info@coloradowilderness.com
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