| |
Adoption Status: NOT ADOPTED
6,057 acres (9.4 square miles)
How to get there
The Hoosier Ridge roadless area is located 4 miles south of
Breckenridge. Approach from State Highway (SH) 9. There are no maintained
trails in this area.
- For the
best overview of the area, take SH 9 to Hoosier Pass and hike NE along Hoosier
Ridge past a cellular telephone relay station.
- One
mile south of Blue River, the Fredonia Gulch Road (FS 600) penetrates the area
and climbs to an old mine NW of Red Mountain.
- From
Blue River, the Pennsylvania Creek Road (FS 611) skirts the northern boundary
of the unit and passes a couple of campsites. When this road fades out near
treeline, continue on foot into beautiful Horseshoe Basin on the east side of
Red Mountain.
- Access
to Hoosier Ridge on the eastern boundary of the unit can also be gained from
the Indiana Creek Road (FS 593).
- The
USGS 7 1⁄2’ quads for the Hoosier Ridge RA are Breckenridge, Alma, and Boreas
Pass.
Setting
The Hoosier Ridge roadless area sits on the north side of
the Continental Divide, between the upper Blue River and Pennsylvania Creek.
Red Mountain (13,229 feet), a huge rounded arm of the divide, occupies the
center of the unit. Most of the area in this unit consists of high peaks, above
treeline, and supports extensive alpine meadows and rugged screefields.
Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir trees are scattered in the high basins, with
lodgepole pines dominating the lower drainages. The elevation is 10,100 feet at
the bottom of Pennsylvania Creek, and rises to 13,352 on the crest of Hoosier
Ridge.
What’s special about it?
This area provides a roadless link between the White River
and Pike-San Isabel National Forests, as well as a rugged, high corridor from
the area where the Mosquito, Tenmile, and Gore Ranges converge to the Mount
Evans Wilderness. This untrammeled area is surrounded by areas that were heavily
mined in the past. Excellent hiking and camping may be had here.
The Hoosier Ridge Ridge Research Natural Area straddles the
Continental Divide in this unit, and is
considered a prime example of a native alpine ecosystem. Its vast alpine
grasslands and subalpine forest provide habitat for ten rare plant species, as
well as boreal toads, and wolverines. This is also critical habitat for the
Canada lynx.
Potential threats
Increased development of private properties on the west side
of this unit puts pressure on the forested areas of this unit. Illegal
motorized incursion into the roadless area from private land is difficult to
control. There is a private inholding on the western slopes of Red Mountain.
Other info
The Hoosier Ridge roadless area is contiguous with a
roadless area of the same name across the Continental Divide on the Pike-San
Isabel National Forest. Together, they form a single roadless area of 11,157
acres (17.4 square miles) and should be managed as a boundariless unit.
|
|
|
;)
;)