This is one of the smallest game management units in the state, only 20 miles long and five to eight miles wide in most places, but almost everybody who has been applying for several years for a high-quality elk tag in Colorado knows of Unit 1. A lot of nonresidents want to hunt elk here that most out-of-state tags go to hunters who have applied for nearly 20 years. Mule deer and antelope also live here, but tags to hunt them are usually marginally easier to draw.

This unit has a reputation as one of the state's top units for producing trophy-class elk and good opportunities for mule deer and pronghorn antelope. Draw odds are steep but hunters who get lucky enough to draw a tag will be in for a great hunt.

Mostly moderately steep mountains covered with timber extending into long ridges that break off into open foothills and precipices plummeting into the Green River. Most of the lower elevation area are void of any serious vegetation while the higher elevations will see a greater concentration of timber, particularly on the northern slopes.

Mostly junipers from 7,000 to 8,500 feet with some slopes covered with grass and sagebrush and bands of oak brush, the bottoms of the drainages typically consist of open brushlands and grass with pines on steep slopes above the Green River which is lined with willows, tamarisk and cottonwoods.

Most BLM land is accessed by vehicles with four-wheel-drive capabilities, because of the dirt roads and hiking trails. About 4,000 acres of private land lie between Diamond Mountain, the Wild Mountain and Troy Mountain off-highway vehicle areas. No motorized vehicles are allowed in Diamond Breaks Wilderness Study Area, which includes Diamond Peak and most of the better elk habitat in the north, even though old jeep trails cross the area. Mule deer and elk hunting is permitted on Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge but not on Dinosaur National Monument, which are both placed on both sides of the Green River.

Most hunters camp along dirt roads on public land. Browns Park State Park and Dinosaur National Monument rent campsites in developed campgrounds. Hunters may have guns in their trucks while on the monument, but may not hunt there. Archers must have a National Park Service permit to possess a bow on monument property. Gasoline, groceries and other services are in Vernal, Utah about 75 miles away and Craig, which is 70 miles away.