White River National Forest

USDA Forest Service
White River
National Forest
900 Grand Ave.
P.O. Box 948
Glenwood Springs CO 81602
970-945-2521

Telephone for the
Hearing Impaired
970-945-3255

"To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again.

---Ralph Waldo Emerson---

Location:

White River National Forest.

Neighboring towns:

Aspen, Woody Creek, Leadville, Twin Lakes, Norrie, Meredith.

Size: 81,866 acres

Elevation: 9,000 to 13,000 feet

Miles of trail: 50

Year designated: 1978

Hunting areas: 47,48

Description:

Snuggled in between the more spectacular Colorado Wildernesses of Holy Cross on the north, Maroon Bells-Snowmass on the west, and Collegiate Peaks on the south, Hunter-Fryingpan lies all but forgotten. It rises to the Continental Divide, sharing its eastern border and the divide with Mount Massive Wilderness (see below). The two are one geographically speaking, and almost became one legislatively. Holding the headwaters of Hunter Creek and the Fryingpan River, many streams in this area provide excellent habitats for large numbers of trout. Here you'll find many of the unnamed and tortured peaks of the Williams Mountains. Forests of aspen in the lower elevations, as well as spruce and fir higher up, are thick and dark, and open on alpine tundra dappled colorfully with summer wildflowers. In the silence of this Wilderness, you'll probably see wildlife that includes elk, mule deer, and secretive smaller, fur-bearing animals. A rich forest of 8,300 acres along Spruce Creek on the northwest side was added to the original Wilderness in 1993.

About 50 miles of trail cross the area, climbing up drainages into the Williams Mountains. The Lost Man Trail up Lost Man Creek crosses South Fork Pass and continues down the South Fork of the Fryingpan River (about 10 miles distance), providing access to the heart of the Wilderness. Many opportunities for solitude exist here.

Special Orders/Regulations:

"The following acts are prohibited on National Forest System land within the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness."

1. Entering or being in the area with more than 15 people per group, and a maximum combination of 25 people and pack or saddle animals in any one group.

2. Camping within one hundred feet of any lake, stream, trail or any “No Camping” or “Wilderness Restoration Site” sign.

3. Building, maintaining, attending, or using a campfire within one hundred feet of any lake, stream, trail or within ¼ mile of tree line or above tree line.

4. Storing equipment, personal property, or supplies for longer than 72 hours.

5. Hitching, tethering or hobbling any pack or saddle animal within one hundred feet of any lake, stream or trail.

6. Possessing a dog, except for working stock dogs or dogs used for legal hunting purposes, unless under physical restraint of a leash.

7. Possessing, storing or transporting any plant material, such as hay, straw. NOTE: Exceptions are allowed for livestock feed that has been processed through chemical or mechanical means in a manner that will destroy viable seeds. Examples of allowed material includes: palletized feed and rolled grains.

8. Possessing or using any wagon, cart or other vehicle including a wheelbarrow or game cart.

9. Shortcutting a switchback in a trail