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<br />""'Encampment Niver Unit
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<br />Water equalling the annual needs of the District of Columbia, miles of fishing streams exceeding the
<br />distance between Denver and Cheyenne, plus enough wood grown each year to build over 600
<br />three-bedroom houses.
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<br />These are a few of the outstanding values of the Encampment River Unit, a portion of the Medicine Bow
<br />and Routt National Forests, now being evaluated to determine the land use pattern which will best meet
<br />society's needs during the coming decades.
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<br />The unit is also important to wildlife and the local livestock industry, and holds promise for meeting the
<br />public's need for open space, solitude, and recreation.
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<br />The Encampment River Unit includes 131,190 acres, all within the Encampment River Drainage, largest
<br />tributary of the North Platte River. The name Encampment, given to both the town and river, has it's origin
<br />in the "Grand Encampment" or rendezvous - Mountain Man and Indian - of the 1850's. Mostly within the
<br />Sierra Madre Mountains east of the Continental Divide, the drainage straddles the state line between Carbon
<br />County, Wyoming, and Jackson County, Colorado.
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<br />The northern boundary is just south of the town of Encampment, and the unit sprawls 20 air miles south to
<br />include the northern tip of the Mount Zirkel Wilderness in Colorado. It is about eighteen miles south of
<br />Saratoga, Wyoming; 90 miles west and south of Laramie, Wyoming; 28 miles north of Steamboat Springs,
<br />Colorado; and 24 miles northeast of Walden, Colorado.
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<br />Approximately 15,000 people live within an hours drive and 1,409,000 persons reside within a four-hour
<br />drive. The flow of Forest products and other uses contributes substantially to the economy of the
<br />surrounding area in both states.
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<br />About a third of the unit is in the Routt National Forest in Colorado. The rest is in Wyoming, with 70,580
<br />acres in the Medicine Bow National Forest, 9,650 under Bureau of Land Management administration, 4,270
<br />in Wyoming State land, and 7,050 acres privately owned.
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<br />Topographically, the unit is varied but typical of the Rocky Mountain Region with elevations ranging from
<br />7,200 feet to 11,422 feet. Mount Zirkel Wilderness and the Encampment River Canyon are steep and rocky
<br />but most of the other terrain is gently rolling. Evidence of glacial action such as small lakes, striated rocks,
<br />cirques and moraines are common.
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<br />The climate is also typical of the Rockies with long, snowy winters and cool summers. Temperature
<br />extremes range from 90 degrees Fahrenheit in July to minus 40 in January. Frost may occur at any time at
<br />higher elevations where the temperature rarely exceeds 60 degrees. The Continental Divide protects most of
<br />the unit from destructive winds, but causes increased snow deposition on the lee slones.
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<br />Precipitation averages 12 inches at lower levels but amounts to as much as 45 inches annually on the peaks
<br />of the Continental Divide. Most moisture falls in the form of snow. Late spring and early summer are dry,
<br />but thunderstorms are common in late summer. The air quality is good and no serious pollution is foreseen.
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<br />Major points of interest are the Encampment River and its tributaries which traverse the area. Hog Park
<br />Reservoir near the state line (part of Cheyenne's transmountain water system and also important as a
<br />recreation site): the rocky, scenic Mount Zirkel Wilderness fnamed for an early settler); and many
<br />moldering miners' and tie-hacks' cabins scattered throughout the forests.
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