Roosevelt National Forest occupies a vast stretch of north central Colorado on the eastern side of the Continental Divide in the Front Range, encompassing mountain foothills, high country, and the upper valleys of the Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson rivers. Established in 1902 as part of the Medicine Bow Forest Reserve, it became Colorado National Forest in 1910 and was renamed in 1932 to honor Theodore Roosevelt. Bordering Rocky Mountain National Park and containing six wilderness areas, it is jointly administered with Arapaho National Forest and Pawnee National Grassland and remains a major landscape for conservation, backcountry stewardship, and recreation.