Wilderness Study Areas

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity; that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life." (John Muir)

Dolores River Canyon WSA

Directly below is a clickable map of the wilderness study areas (WSAs) in Colorado and below that are the WSAs listed by field office. Click here for expanded information on Wilderness Study Areas, such as what they are, why they exist, and how many are in Colorado.

·         Wilderness

·         National Conservation Areas

·         National Monuments

·         National Scenic & Historic Trails

·         Wilderness Study Areas


                         Additional Information:

                         Wilderness Act of 1964

                         WSA Inventory 1980

                         WSA Inventory 1991

Bull Gulch Castle Peak Eagle Mountain Hack Lake North Sand Hills Platte River Contiguous Troublesome Black Canyon Papa Keal San Luis Hills Black Mountain Bull Canyon Oil Spring Mountain Skull Creek Willow Creek Windy Gulch Black Ridge Canyons Demaree Dominguez Canyon Little Book Cliffs The Palisade Sewemup Ant Hills Chew Winter Camp Cross Mountain Diamond Breaks Peterson Draw Vale of Tears West Cold Spring Cahone Canyon Cross Canyon Dolores River Canyon McKenna Peak Menefee Mountain Rare Lizard & Snake Natural Area Squaw/Papoose Canyon Weber Mountain Weminuche Contiguous West Needles Contiguous Whitehead Gulch American Flats Bill Hare Gulch Handies Peak Powderhorn Primitive Area Red Cloud Peak Beaver Creek Browns Canyon High Mesa Grassland RNA Lower Grape Creek McIntyre Hills Upper Grape Creek Adobe Badlands Camel Back Needle Rock ISA

Colorado River Valley

Bull Gulch (1)

Castle Peak (2)

Eagle Mountain (3)

Hack Lake (4)

 

Kremmling

North Sand Hills** (1)

Platte River Contiguous (2)

Troublesome (3)

 

San Luis Valley

Black Canyon (1)

Papa Keal (2)

San Luis Hills (3)

 

White River

Black Mountain (1)

Bull Canyon (2)

Oil Spring Mountain (3)

Skull Creek (4)

Willow Creek (5)

Windy Gulch (6)

Grand Junction

Black Ridge Canyons (1)

Demaree (2)

Dominguez Canyon (3)

Little Book Cliffs (4)

The Palisade (5)

Sewemup* (6)

 

Little Snake

Ant Hills (1)

Chew Winter Camp (2)

Cross Mountain (3)

Diamond Breaks (4)

Peterson Draw (5)

Vale of Tears (6)

West Cold Spring (7)

 

Tres Rios

Cahone Canyon (1)

Cross Canyon (2)

Dolores River Canyon* (3)

McKenna Peak (4)

Menefee Mountain (5)

Rare Lizard & Snake Natural Area** (6)

Squaw/Papoose Canyon (7)

Weber Mountain (8)

Weminuche Contiguous (9)

West Needles Contiguous (10)

Whitehead Gulch (11)

Gunnison

American Flats (1)

Bill Hare Gulch (2)

Handies Peak* (3)

Powderhorn Primitive Area** (4)

Red Cloud Peak (5)

 

Royal Gorge

Beaver Creek (1)

Browns Canyon (2)

High Mesa Grassland RNA** (3)

Lower Grape Creek (4)

McIntyre Hills (5)

Upper Grape Creek (6)

 

Uncompahgre

Adobe Badlands (1)

Camel Back (2)

Needle Rock ISA** (3)

*One asterisk indicates that management of the wilderness study area is shared with another field office.
**Two asterisks indicate that the wilderness study area is an Instant Wilderness Study Area (ISA).

Three wilderness study areas are co-managed between two field offices. Each has been listed under its primary field office: the field office which manages the majority of its land.

Wilderness Study Area

Primary Field Office

Secondary Field Office

Dolores River Canyon

Tres Rios

Uncompahgre

Handies Peak

Gunnison

Tres Rios

Sewemup

Grand Junction

Uncompahgre

BLM Colorado State Office  |  (303) 239-3600  |  2850 Youngfield St., Lakewood, CO 80215

National Conservation Lands Program Lead  |  (303) 239-3752