West of Lake City are wilderness areas that are home to a growing herd of Rocky Mountain bighorns. Extreme terrain can make this a very difficult hunt.

Lucky tag holders are faced with some of the highest mountains in the lower 48. Mental and physical preparation is a must. Be prepared for climbs that are 3,000' to 4,000' in elevation.

Lake Fork of the Gunnison is created by many creeks high in the San Juan’s and flows to the north joining the Gunnison River. The Animas River flows to the south leaving from its headwaters near Handies Peak. Numerous gulches and canyons have been carved into the mountainous terrain. Alpine basins, broad plateaus and open parks complete this landscape.

Alpine basins consist of wildflowers, mosses, lichens and barren ground willows. Subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, Bristlecone pine, soap grass and willows cover slopes to timberline. Aspen, pine, oak brush, mountain mahogany and willows line ridges and drainages. Lower elevations have sagebrush, buffalo and blue grama grasses and cottonwoods.

US Highway 550 and Colorado Route 149 connect to a good system of county and national forest service roads. Be aware some of the county roads are shelf roads and travel may be very difficult. County Road 30 heads up Lake Fork of the Gunnison. Gunnison National Forest and Rio Grande National Forest provide hundreds of thousands of acres of public access. Within these national forest are designated wilderness areas. Uncompahgre Wilderness Area has 102,721 acres within the north-central region of the San Juan Mountains in Colorado. Powderhorn Wilderness Area is located 10 miles northeast of Lake City, Colorado and occupies 61,915 acres.

Ouray, Lake City and Silverton have limited motels, cafes and fuel options. Gunnison offers many choices of motels, restaurants, shopping, medical facilities and a regional airport. Twisted Fork, Palisades and Blue Mesa Grill are good places to find food.