Sangre de Cristo Wilderness is a long, narrow protected mountain region in southern Colorado covering 220,803 acres of the Sangre de Cristo Range across San Isabel and Rio Grande National Forests, with part of it extending into Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Centered mainly in Saguache and Custer counties, it also reaches into Fremont, Alamosa, and Huerfano counties. The area includes some of Colorado’s highest and most rugged peaks, including several fourteeners and many thirteeners, with Crestone Needle noted as the most difficult. Its faulted, uplifted mountains, forested slopes, abundant wildlife, and traditional Spanish religious place name give it a distinct character and lasting significance.