Friends of the Eagles Nest Wilderness: Wilderness Information

Wilderness Information

Congress created the Gore Range Primitive Area in 1932, containing 32,400 acres on the Arapaho/Roosevelt National Forest and in 1933 added 47,300 to it in the Holy Cross National Forest.

The Eagles Nest Wilderness was created on July 12, 1976 by Public Law 94-352 to include 133,311 acres of National Forest. On November 12, 1997, another 160 acres, known as the Slate Creek Land Exchange, were added by Public Law 105-75.

Summit County contains about 82,484 acres of the Eagles Nest Wilderness with the remaining 50,582 acres in Eagle County.

The Eagles Nest Wilderness offers a variety of trails from an easy hike from the top of Ryan Gulch in Wildernest to Lily Pad Lake to the steep ascent up Buffalo Mountain to the 54-mile long Gore Range Trail that starts near Copper Mountain and ends at the northern Wilderness boundary west of Green Mountain Reservoir.

The Eagles Nest Wildernss is a Class 1 airshed.

The Holy Cross Wilderness was created on December 22, 1980 in the Colorado Wilderness Act, Public Law 96-560, and contains 122,884 acres in Eagle and Pitkin counties. About 164 miles of trails explore this wilderness with the high point being the famous Mount of the Holy Cross at 14,005 feet. The area around Mt. of the Holy Cross was once a national monument before World War II!

The Ptarmigan Peak Wilderness was created on August 13, 1993 in the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993, Public Law 103-77, and contains 13,175 acres along the top of the Williams Fork Range in Summit County. Additional acreage to expand this Wilderness area is included in the current White River National Forest plan.

Leave No Trace

In order to keep the Eagles Nest, Holy Cross, and Ptarmigan Peak Wildernesses as pristine as possible while we enjoying recreating there, please practice Leave No Trace techniques. Link to the LNT website for more information.

Wilderness Regulations

Download the Wilderness regulations (Adobe PDF) which help keep Eagles Nest pristine.

Download the Wilderness regulations (Adobe PDF) which help keep Ptarmigan Peak pristine.

Link to the Wilderness regulations which help keep Holy Cross pristine.