Sangre de Cristo Wilderness

Sangre de Cristo Wilderness
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
Location	Colorado, United States
Coordinates	37°59′18″N 105°36′20″W
Area	220,803 acres (893.56 km2)
Established	1993
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service

The Sangre de Cristo Wilderness is a long and narrow wilderness area covering 220,803 acres (893.56 km²) of the Sangre de Cristo Range centered about Saguache and Custer counties, Colorado. Smaller areas are located in Fremont, Alamosa, and Huerfano counties. All of the wilderness area is located on U.S. Forest Service land within the San Isabel and Rio Grande National Forests and Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. The wilderness area is home to several fourteeners and quite a few thirteeners. Crestone Needle is considered the most difficult.

Flora & Fauna

This wilderness is home to black bears, cougars, elk, and bighorn sheep. Forested areas consist predominantly of spruce and aspen.

History

The Peaks had traditional and religious significance to the region's early Spanish settlers, hence the name, which means "Blood of Christ".

Geology

The faulted and uplifted mountains of the Sangre de Cristo are geologically distinct from the Spanish Peaks range to the east.