Containing the highest part of the High Uinta Mountains from north of Altamont to the Wyoming line, this unit has good numbers of mountain goats and has high hunter success even though it’s one of the most remote big game management units in the state.

Rocky Mountain goat numbers here have increased over recent years. Hunting here takes place in rugged wilderness and is not for the faint of heart.

There are deep canyons that run north to south, and most canyons will have small creeks in them. Canyon walls rise steeply to high ridges that run to the drainage divide that separates the north and south slopes of the High Uintas. Maintained trails that are open to hikers and horseback riders run up the bottoms of most canyons to high passes, some of them more than 11,000 feet and even 12,000 feet in elevation. Most are above timberline. Some of the mountains are more than 12,000 feet above sea level. Most mountain goats are found above tree line in steep terrain. Goats are well distributed near cliffs. Most major drainages have goats in the high country. The unit borders the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in the south.

Mountain goats are almost always found above timberline and in terrain that is so steep and rocky that trees are sparse. The animals occasionally drop into the timber to get away from hunters or predators if escape routes are blocked by cliffs. Timberline is around 11,000 feet. Spruces, pines, and firs grow densely below alpine tundra and rugged, rocky ridges and peaks. Middle elevations have firs, aspens, grass meadows, and sagebrush, and low elevations have pinyon-juniper woods, serviceberries, sagebrush, oak brush, and grasses. Springs, ponds, lakes, and streams can be found everywhere.

Hunters must be prepared to hike or ride horses. Use trails to gain elevation, stopping occasionally to glass high ridges and peaks. The China Meadows and Henry’s Fork trailheads on the north slope and the Lake Fork and Yellowstone/Swift Creek trailheads on the south slope provide access to the high country.

There are campgrounds within the unit and some within the Wilderness Area that have different regulations. Hunters may camp on most other public land within the unit but to hunt goats adequately, hunters should plan to camp in the backcountry, carrying their tents and sleeping bags by horse or backpack.