Flat Tops Wilderness Area

Government information and links are at the bottom of this page.

You can see the unique splendor of the Flat Tops Wilderness in a 64 min. video - Island of the Rockies - Sights and Sounds of the Flat Tops Wilderness. Beautiful scenery, elk and other wildlife filmed during the summer of 1997.  The Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway skirts the Wilderness as it goes from Meeker to Yampa.

Located in Routt and White River National Forests

Neighboring towns: Meeker, Yampa, Steamboat Springs, Glenwood Springs, Buford, Toponas, Burns, New Castle, Craig, Hayden, Phippsburg, Oak Creek

This wilderness is unique. It compares with no other mountain range in the state. Only the Columbia Plateau of the Pacific Northwest is similar. There are no tall spires, and no fourteeners are found in the Flat Tops. Rather, it is a massive block of rock pushed upward and planed level, its surface punctured here and there with rare peaks rising a thousand feet above the high plateau. (Quotation from A Hiking and Camping Guide to the Flat Tops Wilderness Area - Al Marlowe, Author)

Arthur Carhart's 1919 visit to Trappers Lake in the verdant embrace of the Flat Tops prompted him to be the first U.S. Forest Service official to initiate a plea for Wilderness preservation. Approximately 110 trout-laden lakes and ponds, often unnamed, dot the country below numerous flat-topped cliffs. With about half the 100 miles of streams crisscrossing the wilderness serving as other habitats for trout, this place is an angler's paradise.

The Flat Tops Wilderness, Colorado's second largest, is remarkable for many reasons. Sharp breaks in the basalt lava flows of the high White River Plateau define the edge of the Flat Tops escarpment. Above these cliffs, a great expanse of rolling subalpine meadows and alpine tundra beckons. The open and forgiving topography makes trail routing a breeze, and, consequently, no other area in the state offers such an abundance of loop routes for hikers and horsemen. Countless off-trail possibilities complement the official trail system. This breathtaking openness is not the only unusual feature of the Flat Tops. A ghost forest clings to slopes below the tundra, the result of a budworm epidemic that swept across the area in the 1940s, killing the spruce and fir trees and leaving in its wake a skeleton forest of silver-gray snags.

There is little cross-country skiing in Flat Tops in the winter because few access roads are plowed to the wilderness boundary. If you are hardy enough to break trail into the wilderness, a wonderland of gentle alpine skiing awaits.

The Flat Tops are underlain by thick limestone formations in which water has carved a number of caves. The mouth of Spring Cave lies just outside the wilderness boundary in the lower South Fork valley, beckoning the curious to come and explore.

Size:235,035 acres

Elevation: 7,600 to 12,994 feet

Miles of trails: 160

Year designated: 1975

Hunting areas: 24, 25, 12, 26, 33, 34

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.

It's certain, photographer John Fielder takes awe inspiring pictures of Colorado, but have you considered taking pictures and filming your property or other with a security camera?  While the video taken from cameras such as these, probably won't be as coveted as John's pictures are, they might become a necessity if an unwanted event were to occur!  By purchasing simple security camera equipment, you can be better prepared for any type of event.