South Fork B (Burro Mountain) Roadless Area

Adoption Status: NOT ADOPTED

6,019 acres (9.4 square miles)

How to get there 
The South Fork B (more commonly known as Burro Mountain) roadless area is located 3 miles south of Buford, about 18 miles southeast of Meeker. There are two access roads:

• To approach this area from the west, take the Buford-Newcastle Road (FS 245) south from Buford. Two branches, Sterry Lake Road (FS 240) and Burro Mountain Road (FS 246) access the unit. Turn onto Blair Mountain Road (FS 601) to reach the Cliff Lakes trailhead north of Meadow Creek Lake. From here you may hike the trail through the unit to South Fork Campground.
• To access from the South Fork Campground, drive to the end of South Fork Road (County Road 10) from Buford. From there, hike the Cliff Lakes Trail (see above), or you may enter the Flat Tops Wilderness on the South Fork Trail (1827).
• The USGS 7 1⁄2’ quads for Burro Mountain RA are Buford and Meadow Creek Lake.

Setting 
Burro Mountain is an arm of the White River Plateau that divides North Elk Creek from the South Fork of the White River. This roadless area occupies the east-facing slopes that rise from the Stillwater Valley to the Burro Mountain divide. The terrain on the divide is gentle and features open park-like meadows interspersed with spruce/fir stands. The steeper, east-facing hillsides feature aspen, oak brush, and sagebrush. Elevations range from 7,400 feet to over 10,000 feet near Burro Mountain.

What’s special about it? 
The area features incredible scenery and quick recreational access from Buford. Burro Mountain has been identified by the Colorado Division of Wildlife as an area of high priority habitat, and it is a very popular big game hunting destination.

Potential threats 
An increase in motorized recreation in the vicinity of the Buford-Newcastle Road has reduced the wildness of this area. This activity is heavily concentrated during the hunting season. The area has been historically desirable for timber harvesting and accompanying roads encircle the area, carving away at the core. Future logging and the necessary road network would cause unacceptable fragmentation of this large, wild, core area.

Much of South Fork B is available for oil and gas leasing though no currently known leases exist within the unit. Roadless advocates should request that no leasing be allowed within the roadless area. And, in the unfortunate event that leasing does occur, advocates should ask the WRNF to impose non-waivable No Surface Occupancy (NSO) stipulations throughout the entire roadles area.

Other info 
This unit has one cattle and one sheep grazing allotment within its boundaries. Conservation groups have identified an additional 8,596 acres of roadless area that the USFS did not include in their survey of the South Fork B RA (see map). This is one of nine RAs that abut the Flat Tops Wilderness to form a massive roadless complex of over 342,000 acres (533 square miles), the largest on the White River National Forest!