Derby & Red Dirt Roadless Areas

Adoption Status: ADOPTED

Red Dirt RA: 10,245 acres (16.0 square miles)
Derby RA: 2,448 acres (3.8 square miles)
TOTAL: 12,693 acres (19.8 square miles)

How to get there
The Red Dirt and Derby roadless areas are located about 5 miles west of Burns on the east side of the Flat Tops.

• The primary access road to this area is the Derby Loop Road (Eagle County Road 39) form Burns. South Derby Road (FS 613) branches off to the west near the west end of the loop. South Derby Rd divides Red Dirt RA from Derby RA, and proceeds to Crescent and Mackinaw Lakes, where it provides access to the Flat Tops Wilderness. Look for FS 616, which breaks off South Derby Rd and ends at Big Spring and a Winterhawk Outfitters camp. From here, hike the Ute-Sweetwater Trail (2032) through the unit or the W Mountain Trail (1817) west into the Flat Tops Wilderness. The High Basin Trail (2177) goes between Big Spring and Red Dirt Basin Road (FS 611).
• Red Dirt Basin Road (FS 611) provides access to the SE portion of Red Dirt RA, and can be reached from Derby Loop Road (FS 613; see above) or from the Colorado River between Burns and Dotsero.
• For Derby RA, access from the south via South Derby Road (FS 613; see above). From the north approach via North Derby Road (FS 610), and take FS 612 to Middle Derby Trailhead.
• The USGS 7 1⁄2’ quads for the Red Dirt and Derby RAs are Dome Peak and Sugarloaf Mountain.

Setting
These areas occupy parts of the Derby Creek and Red Dirt Creek drainages that originate in the Flat Tops and flow into the Colorado River. The Flat Tops occupy a broad, uplifted volcanic plateau covered in rolling hills and dome-like mountains. These units are on a mid-elevation plateau forested mostly with aspens, and feature big views. Dead Engelmann spruce skeletons, killed by spruce beetles in the 1950s, are abundant. The creeks contain riparian vegetation (cottonwoods, alders, and willows). The elevation ranges from 7,500 feet at East Fork Red Dirt Creek to 11,411 at Star Mountain on the Flat Tops rim.

What’s special about it?
In addition to the sweeping views of the Flat Tops, these areas provide a mid-elevation transitional zone between the high Flat Tops and the Colorado River. They also provide a buffer around the Wilderness that limits motorized vehicle incursions. This is an undeveloped area, with no major recreation destinations, and there is a high potential to experience solitude.

The area is very important among hunters, who use it heavily in the fall, and is popular for horse packing as well. The Red Dirt Basin is critical winter habitat for deer and elk, and has been identified by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) as principal bird habitat. Much of the area is within CNHP’s Red Dirt Creek Potential Conservation Area to protect under-represented biodiversity.

Potential threats
There are several ranches on the eastern boundary of these areas that may fall prey to residential/recreation home development like all private lands abutting public lands with any proximity to the booming resort development areas along the I-70 corridor. This sort of development is heavily impacting the lower elevation lands surrounding the WRNF and seriously impairing their habitat value. This all the more underscores the critical importance of maintaining the ecologically intact areas of public lands nearby. Protecting the roadless chararcter of these areas would also serve as an important buffer for the Flat Tops Wilderness Area wer these private lands to be developed.

Because of the rolling park-like terrain, the potential for illegal off-road vehicle use is quite high, especially during hunting season. Some trails and abandoned roads are inadequately closed.