Platte River Wilderness

Platte River Wilderness
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
The North Platte River looking southwest toward Six Mile Gap.
Show map of Wyoming Show map of Colorado Show map of the United States
Location	Carbon / Albany counties, Wyoming / Jackson County, Colorado, USA
Nearest city	Rawlins, WY
Coordinates	41°05′N 106°21′W / 41.083°N 106.350°W / 41.083; -106.350^[1]
Area	23,492 acres (95.07 km²)
Established	1984
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service

The Platte River Wilderness is a 23,492-acre (95.07 km²) protected wilderness area within the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. Split between southern Wyoming and northern Colorado, the Wilderness was designated in 1984 by the Wyoming Wilderness Act.^[2] The Wyoming portion (22,749 acres) lies within Medicine Bow National Forest, while the Colorado section (743 acres) is in Routt National Forest; since 1995, these two areas have been administratively combined.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Recreation

[edit]

There are multiple types of recreation activities avaiable to pursue, including camping and hiking, hunting, white-water rafting (the Northgate Canyon route runs through the area), and fishing.^[7] The Wyoming Game and Fish Department considers the North Platte a blue ribon fishery for its entire length through the wilderness in Wyoming, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife has designated the North Platte in the Colorado section as a Gold Medal water. ^[8]^[9]

Mullen Fire

[edit]

The conifer forests in the area were almost entirely consumed by the Mullen Fire in 2020.^[10] Despite the extensive burn area, the resulting mosaic of burned and unburned areas created improved habitat for elk, mule deer, and bighorn sheep.^[11]

References

[edit]

^ "Platte River Wilderness". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
^ https://www.congress.gov/bill/98th-congress/senate-bill/543/text
^ "Platte River Wilderness". Wilderness.net. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
^ "Platte River Wilderness". Public Lands Information Center. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
^ "Platte River Wilderness Area". Colorado Wilderness. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
^ "USGS Horatio Rock (WY,CO) Topo Map Quad" (map). TopoQuest. Retrieved June 30, 2008.
^ https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/mbrtb/recreation/platte-river-wilderness
^ https://wgfd.wyo.gov/aquatic-habitat/stream-categorization
^ https://coloradogoldmedalwater.tu.org/gold-medal-waters
^ "Mullen Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
^ https://wgfd.wyo.gov/About-Us/Wyoming-Wildlife/Articles/Mullen-Fire

Protected areas of Wyoming

Federal

National Fish Hatcheries	Jackson Saratoga
National Forests	Ashley Bighorn Bridger–Teton Caribou–Targhee Medicine Bow–Routt Shoshone
National Grasslands	Thunder Basin
National Historic Sites	Fort Laramie
National Monuments	Devils Tower Fossil Butte
National Parks	Grand Teton Yellowstone
National Parkways	John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial
National Recreation Areas	Bighorn Canyon Flaming Gorge
National Trails	California Continental Divide Mormon Pioneer Nez Perce Oregon Pony Express
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Yellowstone River (Clarks Fork) Snake River
National Wildlife Refuge	Bamforth Cokeville Meadows Elk Hutton Lake Mortenson Lake Pathfinder Seedskadee
Other	National Historic Landmarks National Natural Landmarks National Register of Historic Places Wilderness Areas

State

State Parks

State Historical Sites

County

County Parks:	Ayres Natural Bridge

Wyoming Division of State Parks and Historic Sites

Protected areas of Colorado

Federal

National Conservation Areas	Dominguez–Escalante Gunnison Gorge McInnis Canyons
National Fish Hatcheries	Leadville
National Forests	Arapaho Grand Mesa Gunnison Medicine Bow–Routt Pike Rio Grande Roosevelt San Isabel San Juan Uncompahgre White River
National Grasslands	Comanche Pawnee
National Historic Sites	Amache Bent's Old Fort Sand Creek Massacre
National Monuments	Browns Canyon Camp Hale-Continental Divide Canyons of the Ancients Chimney Rock Colorado Dinosaur Florissant Fossil Beds Hovenweep Yucca House
National Parks	Black Canyon of the Gunnison Great Sand Dunes Mesa Verde Rocky Mountain
National Recreation Areas	Arapaho Curecanti
National Trails	California Continental Divide Old Spanish Pony Express Santa Fe
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Cache la Poudre
National Wildlife Refuges	Alamosa Arapaho Baca Browns Park Monte Vista Rocky Flats Rocky Mountain Arsenal Two Ponds
Other	National Historic Landmarks National Natural Landmarks National Register of Historic Places Wilderness Areas

State

State Parks	Arkansas Headwaters Barr Lake Boyd Lake Castlewood Canyon Chatfield Cherry Creek Cheyenne Mountain Crawford Eldorado Canyon Eleven Mile Elkhead Fishers Peak Golden Gate Canyon Harvey Gap Highline Lake Jackson Lake James M. Robb - Colorado River John Martin Reservoir Lake Pueblo Lathrop Lone Mesa Lory Mancos Mueller Navajo North Sterling Paonia Pearl Lake Ridgway Rifle Falls Rifle Gap Roxborough Spinney Mountain St. Vrain Stagecoach State Forest Staunton Steamboat Lake Sweetwater Lake Sweitzer Lake Sylvan Lake Trinidad Lake Vega Yampa River
State Forest	State Forest
State Wildlife Areas	List of Colorado state wildlife areas
State Natural Areas	Aiken Canyon Antero-Salt Creek Arikaree River Badger Wash Blacks Gulch Blue Mountain-Little Thompson Fault Bonny Prairie Boulder Mountain Park Brush Creek Fen California Park Castlewood Canyon Chalk Bluffs Coal Creek Tallgrass Prairie Colorado Tallgrass Prairie Comanche Grassland Copeland Willow Carr Corral Bluffs Cross Mountain Canyon Dakota Hogback Deer Gulch Dome Rock Droney Gulch Duck Creek Dudley Bluffs East Lost Park East Sand Dunes Elephant Rocks Escalante Canyon Fairview Fourmile Creek Fruita Paleontological Garden Park Fossil Gateway Palisade Geneva Basin Iron Fens Gothic Gunnison Gravels Haviland Lake High Creek Fen High Mesa Grassland Hoosier Ridge Hurricane Canyon Indian Spring Indian Springs Trace Fossil Irish Canyon Jimmy Creek Ken-Caryl Ranch Kremmling Cretaceous Ammonite Limestone Ridge Lookout Mountain Lower Greasewood Creek McElmo Mexican Cut Mini-Wheeler Miramonte Reservoir Mishak Lakes Mount Callahan & Logan Wash Mine Mount Emmons Iron Bog Mount Goliath Narraguinnep Needle Rock North Park Phacelia Orient Mine Owl Canyon Pagosa Skyrocket Paradise Park Park Creek Hogback Pyramid Rock Rabbit Valley Rajadero Canyon Raven Ridge Redcloud Peak Rough Canyon Roxborough Ryan Gulch Saddle Mountain San Miguel River Sand Creek Shell Duck Creek Shell Rock Slumgullion Earthflow South Beaver Creek South Boulder Creek South Cathedral Bluffs Specimen Mountain Staunton Tamarack Ranch Treasurevault Mountain Trinidad K-T Boundary Two Buttes Unaweep Seep Wacker Ranch West Creek Wheeler Geologic White Rocks Yanks Gulch/Upper Greasewood Creek Natural Area Zapata Falls
Scenic and Historic Byways	Alpine Loop Cache la Poudre-North Park Collegiate Peaks Colorado River Headwaters Dinosaur Diamond Flat Tops Trail Frontier Pathways Gold Belt Tour Grand Mesa Guanella Pass Highway of Legends Lariat Loop Los Caminos Antiguos Mount Blue Sky Pawnee Pioneer Trails Peak to Peak San Juan Skyway Santa Fe Trail Silver Thread South Platte River Trail Top of the Rockies Tracks Across Borders Trail of the Ancients Trail Ridge Road/Beaver Meadow Unaweep Tabeguache West Elk Loop