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Adoption Status: ADOPTED
37,690 acres (58.8 square miles)
How to get there
The Morapos roadless area is located northeast of Meeker, about 7 miles northeast of Buford.
- To access this area from the south, approach from Buford via Rio
Blanco County Road 8 (the Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway). From this
road, travel along the west side of the roadless area via Fawn Creek
Road (FS 280; improved dirt) and then Moeller Creek Road (AKA Lost Park
Road; FS 290; 4WD). A spur road off of FS 290 provides access to the
Lost Park (1805) and Lost Creek (1808) Trails. FS 290 continues west
along the unit’s boundary to meet the Yellow Jacket Road (FS 250),
which is described below.
- Just inside the forest boundary on County Road 8 is the Long Lost
Trailhead. From here, hike Trail 1808 to Lost Park, or Trail 1806 to
Long Park. Long Park can also be reached by vehicle by taking the Dead
Horse Road (FS 230), east of the North Fork Campground, to the Long
Park Road (FS 231). A motorized trail runs through the roadless area
from Long Park to Lost Park.
- To access the area from the west, approach from Meeker via County
Road 15. At Yellowjacket Pass, take Yellow Jacket Road (FS 250)
eastward to the Morapos roadless area. Option 1: Bear left on Martin
Creek Road (FS 254; 4WD) to reach Milk Creek. Be warned that private
property may block your access to trails into the unit’s interior.
Option 2: Stay on Yellow Jacket Road to meet FS 290 (described above).
A short spur to the north (FS 299) provides access to the Sleepy Cat
Peak area. Note: The Yellow Jacket Road can also be reached by heading
north from Buford.
- To access the area from the north, approach from State Highway 13
between Meeker and Craig. About 15 miles south of Craig, follow County
Road 41 southward along Morapos Creek. This road ends a trailhead at
the forest boundary. From here you can take Trail 1111 toward Baldy
Mountain, Trail 1801 up Morapos Creek to the Flat Tops Wilderness, or
Trail 1800 to Wilson Mesa and the Wilderness boundary. All of these
trails are predominantly within the Morapos RA.
- The northern extreme of the area may also be reached via the Snell
Rock Ridge Road (FS 1800.1), which is cherry-stemmed into the unit to
access a gas well (???). Get there from State Highway 317, south of
Craig.
- The USGS 7 1⁄2’ quads for the Morapos RA are Lost Park, Slide
Creek, Fawn Creek, Sleepy Cat Peak, Sawmill Mountain, and Thornburgh.
Setting
This
is a very large area and has varied topography. In general, the Morapos
roadless area sits between the White River and Williams Fork
watersheds, and occupies a region of gentle divides that are dissected
by a great many creeks. The terrain is generally not steep and rocky,
but instead consists of long, sweeping forested slopes, and broad,
rounded valleys.
While Engelmann spruce and subalpine
fir exist in the higher areas, the main vegetative features are the
numerous aspen stands and vast open parks. Lost Park alone is a
2,000-acre meadow. Much of the lower elevation area is vegetated with
Gambel oak brush. The area receives heavy snowfall, which contributes
to many slumps and slipping soils. The elevations range from about
7,400 feet to 10,848 on Sleepy Cat Peak.
What’s special about it?
The
dominant feature of this roadless area is its enormous size, and it is
part of one of the largest non-wilderness roadless areas in Colorado.
Its moderate elevation and large variety of habitats make this a vital
transitional zone for wildlife. Mid-elevation areas such as this one
are largely unprotected across national forest system lands despite
their importance for maintaining biological diversity. The scenery is
outstanding, and the undeveloped nature of the area lends itself
perfectly to primitive recreation opportunities. While the area has
fine hiking, backpacking, horse packing, and fishing, the main draw
here is elk hunting in the fall. At least six outfitters operate at 20
permitted camps within the area.
The Morapos RA supports large herds of
elk and deer, which spend most of the year here and winter on
lower-elevation land to the north. Lost Park is a particularly critical
area for elk calving. The Colorado Division of Wildlife has identified
the Fawn Creek and Milk Creek areas as extremely high priority habitat
for a suite of indicator species. Hahn Creek and Lost Creek contain
Colorado River cutthroat trout, and are part of a special recovery
program for those fish. Much of the area is managed to retain valuable
wildlife habitat.
Potential threats
Perhaps
the most serious threat to this roadless area is energy
development. A 449 acre parcel in the unit was leased in 2003
for natural gas development. Roadless advocates should request that any
development of any existing leases require non-waivable No Surface
Occupancy (NSO)stipulations. Existing leases should also be allowed to
expire at the end of the current lease term. No new parcels in this
roadless area should be leased.
The Morapos RA receives fairly heavy use by
snowmobilers in the winter which often can lead to inappropriate
motorized use of the same areas in summer, as people become familiar
with these routes. Future development of private parcels adjacent to
the roadless area will increase human traffic and opportunities for
motorized incursion into off-road areas. There is commercially
desirable timber in the vicinity of Sleepy Cat Peak, although it is
difficult to access.
Other info
Grazing
allotments (ten for sheep, one for cattle) exist within the unit. There
are many stock ponds and fences associated with these. Prescribed fires
are common and are used to enhance big game range. This roadless area
has been split into units A and B, based on differences in
manageability. This division should not affect protection of the area.
The Morapos RA is contiguous with the Pagoda Peak roadless areas on the
Routt and White River National Forests. Together, they comprise a
single roadless area of over 104,000 acres (162 square miles)! In
addition, conservation groups have identified 1,313 more acres of
roadless area associated with this unit, primarily in the Fawn Creek
area near the North Fork of the White River.
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