Quick Tips
- Glass into deep timber and burned areas
- Bear proof your camp
On The Ground
Terrain
Vegetation
Access
Camping and Lodging
Historical Temperatures
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Low
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For several years, this area was known as the Book Cliffs Roadless Area. This unit is in the center of the southern half of the roaded area, which is now called Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek South. Hunters must hike or ride horses or mules to reach bears in this unit.
In the spring, the bear’s diet generally consists of grass, and forbs, and they will be relatively close to water sources. Most bear movement will take place during the early morning and evening hours. Their movement will continue to increase as hunts progress. The black bears’ mating season will reach its peak around the month of June. Expect bears to be covering ground and looking for opportunistic meals. Their diet will transition from grasses to more substantial foods such as acorns, pine nuts, and berries.
This is a remote unit and can be hard to access. The main canyons start at high elevations in the south and drain to the north. Little Creek Ridge runs north to south through the middle of the unit. In some places, water runs down canyon bottoms; in others elk water in ponds, pockets of standing water, seeps or wallows. Some animals avoid watering in the main canyon bottoms due to heavy horse traffic and will go to seeps in the backs of side canyons, on benches, or in hollows away from creek bottoms instead.
Mountains are mostly timbered with pines, firs, junipers and aspens, with grass, sagebrush, oak brush and serviceberries on ridges and some slopes. Creek bottoms are narrow in places and wide in others, expanding to long meadows of grass and sagebrush.
Trails start on Steer Ridge Road and Tenmile Knoll in the north, and Sego Canyon Road and Nash Wash in the south. To access the northern part of the unit there are various roads that branch off of US Highway 40 near Fort Duchesne. In the southern part of the unit, there are several BLM roads that leave I-70 or Old Highway 6. There are two main routes that access the roadless area, Ten Mile Knoll trailhead, and Hay Canyon road.
There are no official campgrounds in this unit. Almost all people will hunt from a backcountry camp in She Canyon or along Willow or Little Creek. Motels are in Green River, Vernal, Jensen and Dinosaur, Colorado, but are far from hunting areas.
No motorized vehicles
Physically challenging terrain
Do not cross tribal land
Carry a good GPS unit