Gunnison National Forest

Gunnison National Forest is a vast protected forest in western Colorado spanning 1,672,136 acres across parts of Gunnison, Saguache, Hinsdale, Delta, and Montrose counties. Established on June 13, 1905, by Theodore Roosevelt as the Cochetopa Forest Reserve and later named for explorer John W. Gunnison, it is now administered with the Grand Mesa and Uncompahgre National Forests. Its importance rests on both its scale and its extensive wilderness lands, including shared areas such as Maroon Bells–Snowmass and Collegiate Peaks, along with Fossil Ridge, La Garita, Powderhorn, Raggeds, West Elk, and Uncompahgre, making it a major link in Colorado’s protected mountain landscape.

Crested Butte, Colorado · United States