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Adoption Status: NOT ADOPTED
Porcupine Peak: 8,744 acres (13.6 square miles)
Tenderfoot Mountain: 8,378 acres (13.1 square miles)
TOTAL: 17,122 acres (26.7 square miles)
How to get there
The Tenderfoot Mountain roadless area is located 3 miles east
of Dillon. The Porcupine Peak roadless area is located 6 miles east of Dillon
and 8 miles southwest of Georgetown. Approach these areas via State Highway
(SH) 6 between Dillon and Loveland Pass.
- To
reach the Porcupine Peak RA, take SH 6 east from Dillon and bear right on
County Road (CR) 5. Before reaching Montezuma, bear left on Peru Creek Road (FS
260; improved dirt). After about two
miles, the Lenawee Trail (2257) climbs through the unit north to Arapahoe Basin
Ski Area. Immediately beyond that trailhead, the Chihuahua Gulch Road (FS 263;
very rough 4WD) penetrates the roadless area into the beautiful basin west of
Grays and Torreys Peaks. The Peru Creek Road gets increasingly rough as it
climbs into the mining area of Horseshoe Basin and fades out near Grays Peak at
the southeast corner of the roadless area. There are no maintained trails in
this area, but cross-country travel is possible.
- To
reach the Tenderfoot Mountain RA, take SH 6 east from Dillon. Across the road
from Keystone Ski Area, the Frey Gulch Road (FS 66) provides access to the area
southwest of the unit, and leads to the top of Tenderfoot Mountain. However,
there are no maintained trails within the interior of the Tenderfoot Mountain
RA. For the best overview of the area, hike west along the Continental Divide
from Loveland Pass. There is no public access to the area from Interstate 70.
- The
USGS 7 1⁄2' quads for the Porcupine Peak and Tenderfoot Mountain RAs are
Montezuma, Grays Peak, Keystone, Loveland Pass, Frisco, and Dillon.
Setting
Both of these areas sit on the west side of the Continental
Divide. Tenderfoot Mountain RA sits between Loveland Pass and Eisenhower
Tunnel, and covers an arm of the Divide that separates the North Fork of the Snake
River from Straight Creek. This arm is a rolling alpine tundra-covered ridge
with slopes that drop steeply on the north and south sides. Porcupine Gulch is
the primary drainage from the ridge, and flows into the North Fork of Snake
River. The western end of this ridge is less steep, and was excluded from the
roadless area because of logging activity.
The Porcupine Peak RA sits along a very rugged section of
the Continental Divide, and covers a ridgeline that separates the North Fork of
Snake River from Peru Creek and the Snake River. The roadless area surrounds
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, and features many high peaks, including Grays (14,270
feet), Torreys (14,267 feet), Grizzly (13,427), Ruby (13,277), Copper (12,792),
Lenawee (12,029), and Porcupine (11,803). The Ruby/Chihuahua Gulch drains the
high basin west of Grays and Torreys Peaks into Peru Creek, and is the primary
creek within the area.
The subalpine portions of these roadless areas are forested
in Engelmann spruce/subalpine fir and dense stands of lodgepole pine. There are
riparian plant communities along the creeks at the borders of these units.
What’s special about them?
These roadless areas are quite different from each other. The Tenderfoot
Mountain roadless area has limited access, no maintained trails, little
recreational visitation, and is relatively undisturbed. The area has a high
opportunity for solitude in a scenic alpine environment. This unit contains
part of the Colorado Natural Heritage Program’s proposed Porcupine Research
Natural Area which contains many species of rare plants. Tenderfoot Mountain,
west of the roadless are is critical winter range for big game, which move into
the roadless area for summer. This unit is particularly critical as a lynx and
boreal toad movement corridor because the Eisenhower Tunnel of I-70 is on its north
side. This is the land bridge across I-70 where wildlife may move freely across
this very imposing wildlife movement barrier without fear of collision. As such
these approaches to the land bridge must be kept ecologically whole so as not
to sever access to this singular land bridge across what is known as the Berlin
Wall for wildlife, I-70.
The Porcupine Peak roadless area has better access, contains
two 14,000 foot-high peaks, and surrounds a ski area. Therefore, it is a
well-used recreational destination. The dramatic uplift of the Continental
Divide here, with the exposed cores of mountains towering over meadow-filled
basins, makes for outstanding alpine scenery. This unit provides fantastic
hiking, camping, fishing, peak climbing, and backcountry skiing. There is also
a rock climbing area along the Snake River. The rugged peaks are home to
mountain goats, bighorn sheep, and peregrine falcons, along with elk and deer.
The Chihuahua Gulch and Peru Creek areas have extensive subalpine riparian
habitat, and Boreal toads have been found along the latter.
Potential threats
The Frey Gulch area, on the southwest boundary of Tenderfoot
Mountain RA has been the site of several large timber sales of lodgepole pine.
This has affected the landscape continuity and there is potential for further
harvesting. In Porcupine Peak RA, there are many patented mining claims in the
southeast portion of the unit. The potential for development of cabins on and
roads to these claims is high, and threatens to change the character of this
area dramatically. The Pennsylvania Mine is a super fund site, and has
significantly worsened the water quality of Peru Creek.
Other info
The Tenderfoot Mountain RA was reduced in size by 5,989
acres by the USFS. They excluded the Tenderfoot Mountain and Frey Gulch areas
because they have a low degree of solitude and closed timber roads. 782 acres
around Arapahoe Basin Ski Area were likewise omitted from the Porcupine Peak
RA. The 9,400-acre Mount Sniktau roadless area on the Arapaho National Forest
is contiguous with the Porcupine Peak RA, and together they form a single roadless
area of over 18,000 acres (28 square miles).
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