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Buffalo Peaks Wilderness Additions
Acreage
Total CCWC Acreage = 36,140
Location
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The Buffalo Peaks Wilderness additions are in the
Pike and San Isabel National Forests 20 miles southwest of Fairplay
and 15 miles or more southeast of Leadville.
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The additions lie in Park, Lake, and Chaffee counties
surrounding the current Buffalo Peaks Wilderness, in the lower elevations.
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To access Marmot Peak, take Hwy 285 to FR 311, an
improved dirt road, one mile south of the junction of Hwy 285 and
24. Go about three miles on FR 311 to reach the east side of the area
and a junction with FR 309A. Continue on FR 311, now an unimproved
four-wheel drive road, to travel along the southern boundary. To go
along the west boundary, at the junction of FR 311 and FR 309A, take
FR 309A to FR 436.2c and then FR 436. You can also reach the west
boundary from the Salt Creek area. Take FR 435 at the southern boundary
of Salt Creek to FR 436.
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To access Salt Creek, Take Hwy 285 to FR 435, an
improved dirt road, 1.75 miles north of the junction of Hwy 285 and
24. Go about two miles on FR 435 to reach the southeast corner of
the area. Or take Hwy 285 to FR 433, an unimproved 4WD, 4.5 miles
north of the junction of Hwy 285 and 24. Go about 1.5 miles on FR
433 to reach the northwest corner of the area.
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To access Lynch Creek, use FR 43. Turn west on FR
432, a gravel road 13 miles south of Fairplay or 8 miles north of
Antero Junction on Hwy 285. Continue for 8.25 miles to FR 159 which
is for foot, horse and mountain bike travel only. FR 159 has a “closed”
sign and is about 0.5 miles east of the Rough and Tumbling trailhead
into Lost Creek Wilderness.
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Access Big Union via Hwy 285 and Weston Pass Road,
CR 22. From Hwy 285, turn west on Weston Pass Road, a gravel road,
11 miles south of Fairplay or 11 miles north of Antero Junction. Big
Union is on the south just beyond the South Platte River. Continuing
over Weston Pass takes you around the north and west sides of Big
Union and requires a four-wheel drive vehicle.
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Topo maps: Leadville South (NW), Mt. Sherman (NE),
Granite (W), South Peak (Central), Jones Hill (E), Harvard lakes (SW),
Marmot Peak (S), Antero Reservoir (SE)
Wilderness Qualities
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The Buffalo Peaks Wilderness additions offer remote
and challenging terrain in lower elevation ecosystems.
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Forested terrain offers solitude.
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They provide wildlife linkages across the Mosquito
Range and into South Park and the upper Arkansas Valley.
Natural Features
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Elevation for the additions ranges from 9,200 ft.
to 12,000 ft. Big Union makes a horseshoe around the east, north and
west end of the Buffalo Peaks Wilderness Area. It has forested areas
along with riparian wetlands in the headwaters of the South Fork of
the South Platte River and tundra on the north. Lynch Creek is a wet
forest below the bare north slopes of East Buffalo Peak. Salt Creek
lies on the lower elevations east of East Buffalo Peak and extends
out into the South Park grasslands. Marmot Peak is a forested area
on the lower elevations at the south end of the two Buffalo Peaks.
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Wildlife includes elk, including summer concentration
areas and migration corridors, the American peregrine, and Townsend’s
big-eared bat. The areas provide potential lynx habitat as well.
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Vegetation includes alpine tundra; aspen; spruce-fir;
Lodgepole,
Bristlecone, Ponderosa, and Limber pine; Douglas-fir; mountain meadows;
piñon-juniper woodlands, and riparian wetlands.
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The headwaters of the South Fork of the South Platte
are found on Weston Pass. Rough and Tumbling Creek is a major tributary
to the South Platte. Fourmile Creek and Salt Creek have their headwaters
in Marmot Peak, with Salt Creek continuing along the boundary of Salt
Creek area.
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