Quick Tips
- ATVs are recommended
- Snow and rain can delay travel on dirt roads
- Four-wheel-drive is necessary to travel most roads in bad weather
- Take extra fuel, spare tires, and water because this unit is far from towns
- Be bear aware and keep camps clean
On The Ground
Bordering Colorado and the state-owned roadless Little Creek area east of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. This area supports a large elk herd.
A lot of roads on high ridges and plateaus provide great access, making this a good place for hunters who want a high-quality elk hunt but don't want to hike miles from roads. This is a good unit for glassing with great ATV access.
Terrain
The south part is rocky and steep with some rugged canyons, long mesas with cliffs around the edges and drainages that mostly run from north to south. Most of the best hunting territory can be found at elevations between 7,500 and 8,800 feet. The north boundary is the White River and the northeast border is the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation, which is closed to public hunters. Several drainages in the northern half of the unit run to the White River and east to Green River. Some areas have been burned. Feed and cover has grown dense in the burns, attracting elk. Some sandstone canyons are in low terrain along with hills and flats holding pinyon/juniper woods. Water is limited in low terrain.
Roughly 3,491 square miles
72% public land
Elevations from about 4,200-8,800 feet
Vegetation
High land is timbered with pines, firs and aspens with grass, sagebrush, oak brush and serviceberries on ridges and slopes. Middle elevations are primarily canyons with pockets of aspens, meadows, sagebrush and scrub oak along with some pinyon/juniper. Low terrain is primarily covered in sagebrush or pinyon/juniper woodlands and oak brush.
Access
Most land is public, and hunters can hike or find ATV trails around almost all private tracts, which are about a square mile or less. There are several WMAs located throughout the unit that allow hunting as well. To hunt the northern half, hunters can take State Route 45 to several maintained dirt roads that reach into canyons or follow ridges between canyons and draws. The south end can be reached from dirt roads that branch off roads that lead to exits on Interstate 70. Some of those roads cross flat lowlands before entering canyons and climbing to higher terrain. Several ATV and four-wheel-drive trails are also on high ridges and plateaus.
Camping and Lodging
Almost all hunters camp along dirt roads. Take plenty of water. Motels can be found in Green River, Vernal, Jensen and Dinosaur, Colorado, but are far from hunting areas.
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