WSP02402

• File Number: 7630.060
• Description: Wild and Scenic - Colorado National Monument
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 5/1/1971
• Author: National Park Servic
• Title: Wilderness Recommendation - Colorado National Monument - Colorado
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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On the northeast side of the monument is the Grand Valley of the
Colorado River. Here, the land is primarily in private ownership and
is devoted largely to agriculture, but with increasing residential use.
Livestock grazing is the primary land use along the remaining
boundary, with most of the land in public domain administered by
the Bureau of Land Management.

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Within a day's drive of the monument. there are many important
scenic and recreational areas located within holdings of the U.S.
Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park
Service. Nearby units of the National Park System include: Mesa
Verde and Canyonlands National Parks; Curecanti National
Recreation Area; and Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Arches. and
Dinosaur National Monuments. The Grand Mesa National Forest and
the northern portion of the Uncompahgre National Forest are within
60 mi les of Colorado National Monument.

National forests within a 200.mile radius of the monument
encompass three units of the National Wilderness Preservation
System, totaling 154,580 acres, as well as three primitive areas
containing 83,374 acres. Two major population centers - Denver,
Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah - lie within a half-day's drive of
the monument.

The primary developmental feature of the monument is the Rim
Rock Drive, which extends through the length of the monument,
skirting the rims of the major canyons and generally paralleling the
western and southern boundaries of the monument.

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From approximately the midpoint on the Rim Rock Drive, a
primitive motor nature trail extends eastward across Monument Mesa
to the vicinity of Liberty Cap on the rim of Grand Valley. "It is
proposed to extend this trail along the north side of Ute Canyon,
forming a motor nature loop trail.

Roadless Study Area
As shown on the accompanying wilderness proposal map, the
10,500-acre roadless area extends generally from the Rim Rock Drive
to the northeast monument boundary, except for the route of the
motor nature trail on Monument" Mesa.

The resources - geologic, scientific, and scenic - consist of
spectacular canyons eroded out of red sandstones, striking
monuments, spires and domes, and the juniper/pinyon forests of the
mesa tops, all in their natural state.

The colorful, sheer.walled canyons expose millions of years of
geological processes. Ripple marks record the existence of ancient