This unit has remote, hard-to-reach roadless terrain in the Salmon-Challis National Forest. Part of it is in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness.

Though much of this unit is in designated wilderness, hunters can drive to some places where they can start glassing off primitive roads or after short hikes. The country is steep and rugged in places but is not as remote as much of the wilderness west of Challis and east of McCall. Most goats have horns around 8” in length

This unit consists of high, steep mountains in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness and part of the Salmon-Challis National Forest outside the wilderness. Prominent peaks include Mount Jordan at 10,063 feet above sea level and the 10,329-foot peak known as The General. Countless boulder-filled chutes, talus slopes and rock slides, along with numerous rugged cliffs provide excellent goat habitat. Most land above 8,500 in elevation is rocky and open and what timber exists is mostly sparse except in some north and east-facing basins and on some gentle slopes. Much of the high country, where most hunters find goats, is arranged in long ridges with intermittent peaks.

Grasses, forbs, low brush, sparse conifers, prostrate spruce and wildflowers grow in much of the high country, which is rocky and rugged in most places exceeding 8,500 above sea level. Goats are known to eat mosses and lichens, which grow on stable rocks. Spruces, pines and firs grow thickly in some places, typically on north-running basins. Some areas have been burned by forest fires, and new growth is occurring. Some lush meadows exist in places, particular in mountain valleys and in the bottoms of some basins.

This area is mostly roadless, and hunters should plan on strenuous hiking at high altitudes to reach good goat habitat. Horses can make approaches must easier. Hunters without horses or a great deal of wilderness backpack hunting experience should consider hiring an outfitter. The chief access road in the east is Loon Creek Road, which branches north from Yankee Fork Road, off of Highway 75 just east of Sunbeam Hot Springs. Loon Creek Road goes up Jordan Creek and forks into switchbacks at the junction of Forest Road 356. FR 356 which continues up Jordan Creek, passing south of the peak of Mount Jordan and ends southeast of Lightning Lake. Loon Creek Road continues past the switchbacks and passes the Mystery Creek trailhead east of The General and continues along some ridges. Check with the Forest Service to get a travel plan for the latest road restrictions. Road access to the edge of the hunting area in the west is via Forest Road 172, also called the Pinyon Peak Loop. It branches from Beaver Creek Road, which leaves Sea Foam Road at Beaver Creek. Sea Foam Road starts at Highway 21, also called the Ponderosa Pines Scenic Byway. Hunters can hire a flying service to reach some of the wilderness airstrips close to or in this unit. Flying services include Sawtooth Flying Service, Arnold Aviation and McCall Aviation.

Plan to stay in a tent. The physically easiest way to hunt goats in remote, high, rugged mountains is to use a horse, but there are many places where a horse can’t go in goat country. Backpacking is typically how most hunters hunt this unit.