Long Park

Long Park encompasses 42,100 acres of rolling subalpine terrain in the Routt National Forest, centered on Buffalo Mountain at 10,824 feet within the Park Range. The area drains through multiple named waterways—Walton Creek, Fish Creek and its Middle and North forks, Long Park Creek, and Bear Creek—that originate in the high country and carry snowmelt and groundwater downslope through distinct ecological zones. These streams form the headwaters of a major watershed system, their flow shaped by elevation, aspect, and the forest communities that regulate water movement across the landscape.

The forest composition shifts with elevation and moisture availability. At higher elevations, Engelmann Spruce–Subalpine Fir Forest dominates, with Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) forming a dense canopy where light reaches the ground in scattered patches. The understory here is sparse, defined by shade-tolerant species like Grouse Whortleberry (Vaccinium scoparium) and Geyer's sedge (Carex geyeri). At mid-elevations, Lodgepole Pine Forest and Quaking Aspen Forest create more open conditions. Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands support a richer understory of forbs and shrubs, including mountain bluebells (Mertensia ciliata), blue columbine (Aquilegia coerulea), and heartleaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia). Along streams and seepage areas, Montane-Subalpine Riparian Shrubland develops, where tea-leafed willow (Salix planifolia) and Elephant's-Head lousewort (Pedicularis groenlandica) thrive in saturated soils. Subalpine-Montane Grassland occupies openings and ridgelines, where the federally threatened Western prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera praeclara) grows in moist meadow microsites, and Osha (Ligusticum porteri), vulnerable to overcollection, occurs in scattered patches.

Large carnivores structure the food web across Long Park. Gray wolves (Canis lupus), present as an experimental population, non-essential designation, hunt wapiti (Cervus canadensis) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) across the open and forested areas. Mountain lions (Puma concolor) and American black bears (Ursus americanus) occupy similar niches, with bears feeding on berries in aspen and spruce-fir understories and on ungulates when available. The federally threatened Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) hunts snowshoe hares in the dense conifer forests. Moose (Alces alces) browse willows in riparian zones. Raptors including the federally threatened Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) hunt from the spruce-fir canopy, while the federally threatened Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) forages for insects in aspen and riparian shrublands. The federally threatened Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) nests in sparse grassland and gravelly areas. Aquatic systems support the federally endangered Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius) and other native fish species in Fish Creek and its forks. Pollinators including the proposed endangered Suckley's cuckoo bumble bee (Bombus suckleyi) and the proposed threatened Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) move through flowering meadows and aspen understories.

Walking through Long Park, the landscape reveals itself in transitions. A hiker following Walton Creek upstream moves from lodgepole pine forest into increasingly dense Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir, the canopy closing overhead and the understory thinning to sedge and scattered wildflowers. The sound of water grows louder as the creek narrows. Breaking into a subalpine meadow, the view opens to Buffalo Mountain and the Park Range ridgeline; here, the air carries the scent of willow and the sight of blue columbine and mountain bluebells in moist pockets. Crossing into an aspen stand, the understory brightens with forbs and the trunks of quaking aspen create a dappled light. The forest floor here is soft with leaf litter and alive with the movement of insects and small mammals. At higher elevations, where spruce and fir reclaim the ridges, the forest becomes quiet and dark, the only sound the wind in the canopy and the distant call of a gray jay. This vertical gradient—from open meadow to dense conifer forest—within a few miles of walking defines the ecological character of Long Park.

The Ute people, recognized as the oldest continuous residents of Colorado, maintained a strong spiritual connection to the landscape surrounding Long Park, viewing these mountains as their ancestral homeland. The Yamparika band historically occupied the Yampa River Valley and surrounding mountains where Long Park is located, following a nomadic seasonal migration pattern that brought them to higher elevations around 8,600 to 9,000 feet during summer months to hunt and gather elk, mule deer, and bison. Archaeological evidence across the broader Routt National Forest documents this land use through game drives—man-made rock walls and cairns used to funnel animals for hunting—and culturally modified trees with peeled bark for food or medicinal use. An 1868 treaty ceded Ute lands north of the 40th parallel, including this region, to the United States, displacing the indigenous populations who had stewarded these lands for thousands of years.

Following displacement of indigenous peoples, the region experienced intensive industrial use. Heavy cattle and sheep grazing dominated from the 1870s through the 1940s, with tens of thousands of head driven annually through the area before federal oversight. Mining developed as a second major industry, with the International Camp (also called Bug Town) established near Hahn's Peak in 1877 as the district's first major mining camp. Hahn's Peak subsequently served as the county seat from 1879 to 1912, reflecting its status as a regional industrial center. Extensive timbering operations utilized the forest to support local mining operations and construction in nearby settlements. The region also became connected to large-scale water engineering, including the Grand Ditch, constructed between 1890 and 1936 to divert water across the Continental Divide.

President Theodore Roosevelt established the Park Range Forest Reserve on June 12, 1905, under authority of the Act of March 3, 1891 (the Forest Reserve Act), which granted the President power to set aside public lands as forest reservations. A second proclamation by Roosevelt on March 1, 1907, significantly enlarged the reserve to 1,133,330 acres, adding the Little Snake Country, Hahn's Peak Basin, and surrounding drainages. An Act of Congress approved March 4, 1907, formally renamed all forest reserves as national forests, and the Park Range Forest Reserve became the Park Range National Forest. In 1908, upon being renamed, the Encampment River and Big Creek watersheds were transferred to the Hayden National Forest. Following the dismantling of Hayden National Forest in 1929, its Colorado portions were returned to what became the Routt National Forest. In 1934, lands along the eastern edge of North Park were removed to create the Colorado State Forest. Subsequent boundary adjustments included a 1946 transfer of Routt National Forest land to the Arapaho National Forest and a 1954 expansion of what is now the Yampa Ranger District through addition of lands from the White River National Forest. Since 1995, the Routt National Forest has been administratively combined with the Medicine Bow National Forest and Thunder Basin National Grassland under unified management.

Vital Resources Protected

Headwater Protection for Federally Endangered Fish

Long Park's network of perennial and ephemeral streams—including Walton Creek headwaters, Fish Creek, and Bear Creek—originates in subalpine terrain where water quality remains unaltered by road-related sedimentation. These cold, clean headwaters are critical spawning and rearing habitat for four federally endangered fish species: bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow, pallid sturgeon, and razorback sucker. Road construction in headwater areas causes erosion from cut slopes and fill material, which increases sedimentation that smothers spawning substrate and reduces water clarity—directly degrading the nursery habitat these species depend on for survival. Once sedimentation loads increase, they persist in downstream systems for decades, making headwater protection the most cost-effective conservation strategy for these species.

Subalpine Forest Connectivity for Canada Lynx

The Engelmann Spruce–Subalpine Fir forest and lodgepole pine stands across Long Park's rolling subalpine terrain provide unfragmented habitat for Canada lynx, a federally threatened species that requires large, continuous forest blocks to hunt snowshoe hares and move between seasonal ranges. Road construction fragments this forest into smaller patches separated by cleared corridors, which increases edge effects and allows predators and competitors easier access to lynx denning areas and hunting grounds. Lynx populations in fragmented landscapes show reduced survival and reproductive success because they cannot maintain the large home ranges necessary to find sufficient prey. The subalpine elevation and rolling topography of Long Park make it particularly valuable as a climate refugium—as warming pushes suitable lynx habitat to higher elevations, this area's intact forest connectivity becomes increasingly irreplaceable.

Riparian Integrity for Migratory and Breeding Waterbirds

The montane-subalpine riparian shrubland along Long Park's creek systems provides nesting, migration, and staging habitat for three federally threatened species: whooping crane, piping plover, and yellow-billed cuckoo. These species depend on dense, undisturbed riparian vegetation and reliable water flow to breed and refuel during migration. Road construction removes riparian vegetation directly through fill and grading, and indirectly by lowering water tables through drainage and hydrological disruption—reducing the moisture that sustains willows, sedges, and other shrubs these birds require. Riparian zones are narrow, linear ecosystems; once fragmented by roads, they lose the structural complexity and connectivity that allows birds to move safely between breeding and wintering grounds.

Grassland and Aspen Habitat for Greater Sage-Grouse and Monarch Butterfly

Long Park's subalpine-montane grasslands and quaking aspen forests support greater sage-grouse (near threatened, IUCN) and monarch butterfly (proposed threatened, ESA), both of which require large, unfragmented patches of native vegetation. Greater sage-grouse depend on sagebrush and grassland mosaics for lekking (breeding display) and nesting; roads fragment these habitats and increase human disturbance that causes birds to abandon traditional breeding sites. Monarch butterflies require continuous milkweed patches across migration corridors; road construction removes milkweed-bearing grasslands and creates barriers that disrupt the multi-generational migration spanning North America. The subalpine elevation of these grasslands makes them particularly sensitive to disturbance—recovery of native vegetation after road-related soil compaction and invasive species colonization is slow at high elevation, where growing seasons are short.

Threats from Road Construction

Sedimentation and Stream Temperature Increase from Canopy Removal

Road construction in Long Park's headwater drainages requires clearing forest canopy along cut slopes and road prisms, which removes shade and allows solar radiation to warm streams directly. Simultaneously, erosion from exposed soil on cut slopes and fill material delivers fine sediment into perennial and ephemeral streams, smothering the clean gravel and cobble substrate that bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow, pallid sturgeon, and razorback sucker require for spawning. These four federally endangered fish are adapted to cold, clear water; even modest temperature increases and sedimentation loads reduce egg survival and larval growth. Because Long Park's streams originate in subalpine terrain with naturally cold water, they are particularly sensitive to canopy-removal warming—the loss of shade cannot be offset by cooler upstream sources.

Habitat Fragmentation and Edge Effects for Interior Forest Species

Road construction divides Long Park's unfragmented Engelmann Spruce–Subalpine Fir and lodgepole pine forests into smaller blocks separated by cleared corridors, creating hard edges where forest interior conditions are lost. Canada lynx, Mexican spotted owl (federally threatened), northern goshawk, and boreal owl all require large, continuous forest interiors away from edges where predation risk increases and microclimate becomes drier and warmer. The cleared road corridor itself becomes a barrier to movement—lynx and other forest carnivores avoid crossing open areas, effectively isolating populations on either side. In subalpine forests, where suitable habitat is already limited by elevation and climate, fragmentation reduces the total area available for breeding and hunting, forcing populations into smaller ranges where genetic diversity declines and local extinction risk increases.

Hydrological Disruption and Riparian Vegetation Loss

Road construction in riparian zones requires fill material that raises the ground surface and disrupts shallow groundwater flow that sustains riparian shrubland. Culverts and drainage ditches along roads channel water away from riparian areas, lowering water tables and drying the soil that willows, sedges, and other vegetation depend on. Whooping crane, piping plover, and yellow-billed cuckoo require dense, moist riparian vegetation for nesting and migration staging; loss of this vegetation forces birds to use suboptimal habitat with reduced cover and food availability. Because riparian zones are narrow and linear, a single road crossing can sever hydrological connectivity along an entire drainage, affecting vegetation and water availability for miles downstream. At subalpine elevations, where precipitation is limited and growing seasons are short, recovery of riparian vegetation after hydrological disruption takes decades or longer.

Invasive Species Colonization via Road Corridors

Road construction creates disturbed soil and cleared corridors that serve as invasion pathways for non-native plants, which currently have low presence in Long Park due to its roadless condition. Vehicles traveling on new roads transport weed seeds in soil and tire treads; the compacted, bare soil along road edges provides ideal germination habitat for invasive species that outcompete native plants. Once established, invasive plants spread into adjacent grasslands and aspen forests, reducing the native milkweed and forbs that monarch butterflies and greater sage-grouse depend on. Invasive species also alter fire behavior and soil chemistry, making native plant recovery increasingly difficult. Because Long Park currently functions as a "bulwark" against invasive species spread, road construction would compromise this refuge status and create a source population for invasive species that could spread across the broader Routt National Forest.

Long Park spans 42,100 acres of rolling subalpine terrain in the Routt National Forest, centered on Buffalo Mountain (10,824 ft) and anchored by the Park Range. The area's roadless condition supports a full range of backcountry recreation — hiking, mountain biking, horseback travel, hunting, fishing, birding, and paddling — all dependent on the absence of internal roads and the resulting quiet, unfragmented habitat that defines the experience here.

Hiking and Mountain Biking

Eleven maintained trails provide access to high-elevation meadows, forest, and water features. The Wyoming Trail (1101.1), a 26.9-mile route, serves as the corridor for the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail through the area and has been rerouted to avoid hazardous bog sections, improving conditions for hikers and packers. The Fish Creek Trail (1102.1) runs 7.2 miles through native material and reaches the Fish Creek drainage with views of Lost Ranger Peak and the Gore Mountain Range. Percy Lake Trail (1134.1) climbs 3.0 miles to 10,120 feet with grades up to 22%, offering intermediate hiking and riding. Mountain bikers use Valley View (1006.1, 3.1 miles), Duster (1009.1, 1.2 miles), Pete's Wicked Trail (1013.1, 2.9 miles), Sunshine (1011.1, 2.7 miles), and Spur Run (1015.1, 1.1 mile). Access is from four trailheads: Powerline, Percy Lake, Buffalo Pass, and Base Camp. Four campgrounds — Dumont Lake, Granite, Meadows, and Summit Lake — serve as bases for extended trips. High-elevation sections above 9,000 feet hold snow and blowdowns into June; boggy conditions are common in Long Park meadows early in the season. E-bikes are classified as motorized vehicles and are restricted to roads and designated motorized trails on the Motorized Vehicle Use Map.

Hunting

The roadless area provides habitat for American black bear, elk (wapiti), mule deer, Shiras moose, and mountain lion, with documented summer and fall concentration areas for bear and summer/winter concentration areas for elk and deer. Columbian sharp-tailed grouse and dusky grouse inhabit the subalpine forests; snowshoe hares are present in the coniferous zones. The area lies within Game Management Unit 14. Elk hunting is available over-the-counter for archery, second rifle, and third rifle seasons; mule deer licenses are limited-draw. Columbian sharp-tailed grouse season runs September 1–21 (daily limit two, possession limit four; a $5 permit is required as of 2025). Dusky grouse season runs September 1 through late November. Because half the area is roadless, hunters willing to walk or pack in find solitude away from heavy ATV traffic and documented "very good hunting" for elk (average quality 260–280 inches) and mule deer (average quality 140–160 inches). Access is from Buffalo Pass Road and U.S. Highway 40; internal travel is restricted to foot or horseback.

Fishing

The Long Park Roadless Area contains critical habitat for an unaltered Strain A conservation population of Colorado River cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticus), a native subspecies. Fish Creek and its reservoir support native trout species; Walton Creek, on the west side of Rabbit Ears Pass, holds brook and rainbow trout. Perennial and ephemeral streams throughout the area support brook, rainbow, and native cutthroat trout. A valid Colorado fishing license is required for anglers 16 and older. Because the area holds conservation populations of cutthroat trout, special restrictive regulations (such as catch-and-release or artificial flies and lures only) typically apply. High-elevation streams are ice-covered from September through June, creating a short, intense feeding window in summer when trout are highly active. Access requires hiking or horseback riding into subalpine headwaters; the short summer season and dense brush along streams near Rabbit Ears Pass make "dapping" (dropping flies directly onto the water) a common technique. The roadless nature of the area provides backcountry fishing for native trout without encountering other people.

Birding

The area supports Northern Goshawk and Greater Sandhill Crane, with potential habitat for Mexican Spotted Owl and Whooping Crane. High-elevation aspen and coniferous forests are documented breeding grounds for purple martins, red-naped sapsuckers, and white-crowned sparrows. Nearby habitats host western tanager, mountain bluebird, American dipper, and northern pygmy-owl. The Yampa Valley is a major stopover for sandhill crane migration. The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail reroute in Long Park was specifically designed to move the trail out of hazardous bog areas into drier locations, facilitating access to subalpine riparian and forest birding habitats. Several proposed trails in the Mad Creek and Rocky Peak areas were removed from development plans specifically to prevent habitat fragmentation within the center of the roadless area, preserving it as a primitive observation zone for species dependent on large, undisturbed habitats.

Paddling

Fish Creek is a documented whitewater kayaking destination. The reach from Fish Creek Falls to the Diversion Dam is classified as Class V whitewater, with peak roaring flow during springtime snowmelt; by late summer, water levels drop and the falls cascade over smooth rocks. Upper Fish Creek is identified as a "creeking classic" for technical paddling. Fish Creek Reservoir, located at the end of the dirt road to Buffalo Pass, supports non-motorized boating — kayaks and canoes — in a wilderness setting. The USGS gauge "Fish Cr at Upper Sta Nr Steamboat Springs, CO" monitors levels for the Fish Creek Falls reach.