Roosevelt National Forest | |
---|---|
Location | Colorado, United States |
Nearest city | Fort Collins, CO |
Coordinates | 40°42′32″N105°34′52″W / 40.709°N 105.581°W |
Area | 813,799 acres (3,293.33 km2) |
Established | May 22, 1902 |
Named for | Theodore Roosevelt [1] |
Governing body | U.S. Forest Service |
Website | Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland |
The Roosevelt National Forest is a National Forest located in north central Colorado. It is contiguous with the Colorado State Forest as well as the Arapaho National Forest and the Routt National Forest. The forest is administered jointly with the Arapaho National Forest and the Pawnee National Grassland from offices in Fort Collins, and is denoted by the United States Forest Service as ARP (Arapaho, Roosevelt, Pawnee).
The forest encompasses a mountainous area of the foothills on the eastern side of the Continental Divide of the Front Range in Larimer County and Boulder County. In Larimer County it includes the upper valleys of the Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson Rivers. It includes forested areas along both sides of the Poudre Canyon and along the north and east sides of Rocky Mountain National Park. Smaller parts of the forest also extend into northern Gilpin and extreme northwestern Jefferson counties.
The Roosevelt National Forest is divided into two ranger districts, the Canyon Lakes Ranger District, with offices in Fort Collins, and the Boulder Ranger District, with offices in Boulder.
The Roosevelt National Forest began on May 22, 1902 as part of the Medicine Bow Forest Reserve. It was renamed the Colorado National Forest in 1910, and was renamed to honor President Theodore Roosevelt in 1932. [1]
The forest has a total area of 813,799 acres (1,271.56 sq mi, or 3,293.33 km2). [2]
Several volunteer groups work with the US Forest Service to help manage the Roosevelt National Forest, including the Poudre Wilderness Volunteers.
There are six officially designated wilderness areas lying within Roosevelt National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Four of them extend into neighboring National Forests, and one of these also onto National Park Service land (as indicated).
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Hourglass Reservoir has a subarctic climate, abbreviated "Dfc" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded at Hourglass Reservoir was 91 °F (32.8 °C) on July 8, 1989, while the coldest temperature recorded was −33 °F (−36.1 °C) on February 2, 2011. [3]
Climate data for Hourglass Reservoir, Colorado, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1988–2021 | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °F (°C) | 58 (14) | 57 (14) | 66 (19) | 69 (21) | 79 (26) | 88 (31) | 91 (33) | 87 (31) | 85 (29) | 75 (24) | 68 (20) | 60 (16) | 91 (33) |
Mean maximum °F (°C) | 48.3 (9.1) | 48.5 (9.2) | 55.4 (13.0) | 61.0 (16.1) | 71.2 (21.8) | 80.4 (26.9) | 84.0 (28.9) | 81.0 (27.2) | 76.9 (24.9) | 68.1 (20.1) | 56.0 (13.3) | 47.6 (8.7) | 84.6 (29.2) |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 31.0 (−0.6) | 32.7 (0.4) | 40.1 (4.5) | 45.1 (7.3) | 55.3 (12.9) | 68.1 (20.1) | 74.3 (23.5) | 71.6 (22.0) | 64.8 (18.2) | 51.3 (10.7) | 39.0 (3.9) | 31.0 (−0.6) | 50.4 (10.2) |
Daily mean °F (°C) | 20.9 (−6.2) | 21.4 (−5.9) | 27.7 (−2.4) | 32.5 (0.3) | 41.6 (5.3) | 52.3 (11.3) | 58.6 (14.8) | 56.4 (13.6) | 49.6 (9.8) | 38.4 (3.6) | 28.3 (−2.1) | 20.9 (−6.2) | 37.4 (3.0) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 10.8 (−11.8) | 10.0 (−12.2) | 15.3 (−9.3) | 20.0 (−6.7) | 28.0 (−2.2) | 36.4 (2.4) | 42.8 (6.0) | 41.1 (5.1) | 34.3 (1.3) | 25.5 (−3.6) | 17.7 (−7.9) | 10.8 (−11.8) | 24.4 (−4.2) |
Mean minimum °F (°C) | −9.0 (−22.8) | −10.0 (−23.3) | −3.6 (−19.8) | 3.7 (−15.7) | 15.3 (−9.3) | 27.9 (−2.3) | 35.8 (2.1) | 33.2 (0.7) | 22.5 (−5.3) | 9.1 (−12.7) | −2.2 (−19.0) | −9.9 (−23.3) | −16.8 (−27.1) |
Record low °F (°C) | −25 (−32) | −33 (−36) | −19 (−28) | −12 (−24) | −1 (−18) | 22 (−6) | 20 (−7) | 26 (−3) | 13 (−11) | −13 (−25) | −23 (−31) | −28 (−33) | −33 (−36) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 1.23 (31) | 1.52 (39) | 2.26 (57) | 2.61 (66) | 2.28 (58) | 1.36 (35) | 1.95 (50) | 1.74 (44) | 1.57 (40) | 1.36 (35) | 1.34 (34) | 1.35 (34) | 20.57 (523) |
Average snowfall inches (cm) | 16.2 (41) | 20.0 (51) | 28.5 (72) | 35.7 (91) | 14.8 (38) | 1.6 (4.1) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 2.5 (6.4) | 13.6 (35) | 21.4 (54) | 19.5 (50) | 173.8 (442.5) |
Average extreme snow depth inches (cm) | 18.3 (46) | 23.1 (59) | 29.3 (74) | 28.6 (73) | 16.9 (43) | 1.2 (3.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 1.3 (3.3) | 6.8 (17) | 8.9 (23) | 14.2 (36) | 33.0 (84) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 9.2 | 10.2 | 9.8 | 10.9 | 10.3 | 9.6 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 9.4 | 7.6 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 122.1 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 9.2 | 10.1 | 9.6 | 10.4 | 5.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 5.4 | 8.4 | 9.1 | 69.1 |
Source 1: NOAA [4] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: National Weather Service [3] |
Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359,066. The county seat and most populous city is Fort Collins. The county was named for William Larimer, Jr., the founder of Denver.
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,379, and it was the fourth least populated in the state. The county is named after the United States President Andrew Jackson. The county seat and only municipality in the county is Walden.
Grand County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,717. The county seat is Hot Sulphur Springs.
Kaibab National Forest borders both the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon, in north-central Arizona. Its 1.6 million acres is divided into three sections: the North Kaibab Ranger District, the Tusayan Ranger District, and the Williams Ranger District. It is managed by the United States Forest Service. Grand Canyon National Park separates the North Kaibab and the South Kaibab. The South Kaibab covers 1,422 square miles (3,680 km2) and the North Kaibab stretches over 1,010 square miles (2,600 km2). Elevations vary on the forest from 5,500 feet in the southwest corner to 10,418 feet at the summit of Kendrick Peak on the Williams Ranger District. The forest as a whole is headquartered in Williams.
Arapaho National Forest is a National Forest located in north-central Colorado, United States. The region is managed jointly with the Roosevelt National Forest and the Pawnee National Grassland from the United States Forest Service office in Fort Collins, Colorado. It has a wildlife refuge which manages a protection for all birds and mammals. The combined facility of 1,730,603 acres (7,004 km2) is denoted as ARP by the Forest Service. Separately, Arapaho National Forest consists of 723,744 acres (2,929 km2).
Pawnee National Grassland is a United States National Grassland located in northeastern Colorado on the Colorado Eastern Plains. The grassland is located in the South Platte River basin in remote northern and extreme northeastern Weld County between Greeley and Sterling. It comprises two parcels totaling 193,060 acres (78,130 ha) largely between State Highway 14 and the Wyoming border. The larger eastern parcel lies adjacent to the borders of both Nebraska and Wyoming. It is administered in conjunction with the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest from the U.S. Forest Service office in Fort Collins, with a local ranger district office in Greeley.
White River National Forest is a National Forest in northwest Colorado. It is named after the White River that passes through its northern section. It is the most visited National Forest in the United States, primarily from users of the twelve ski areas within its boundaries.
Medicine Bow–Routt National Forest is the official title to a U.S. Forest Service managed area extending over 2,222,313 acres (8,993.38 km2) in the states of Wyoming and Colorado, United States. What were once three separate areas, Medicine Bow National Forest, Routt National Forest, and Thunder Basin National Grassland were administratively combined in 1995 due to similarity of the resources, proximity to each other and for administrative purposes.
The Pike National Forest is located in the Front Range of Colorado, United States, west of Colorado Springs including Pikes Peak. The forest encompasses 1,106,604 acres (4,478 km2) within Clear Creek, Teller, Park, Jefferson, Douglas and El Paso counties. The major rivers draining the forest are the South Platte and Fountain Creek. Rampart Reservoir is a large artificial body of water located within the forest.
The Gunnison National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 1,672,136 acres in Mesa, Gunnison, Hinsdale and Saguache Counties in Western part of the U.S. state of Colorado. It borders the White River National Forest to the north, the Grand Mesa and Uncompahgre National Forests to the west, the San Isabel National Forest to the east and the Rio Grande National Forest to south. It lies in parts of five counties. In descending order of land area within the forest they are Gunnison, Saguache, Hinsdale, Delta, and Montrose counties.
San Isabel National Forest is located in central Colorado. The forest contains 19 of the state's 53 fourteeners, peaks over 14,000 feet (4,267 m) high, including Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado.
The Cache la Poudre Wilderness is federally-protected area administered by the U.S. Forest Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is located on the Canyon Lakes Ranger District on the Roosevelt National Forest in Colorado. This wilderness covers 9,258 acres (37.47 km2) and is characterized by steep, rugged terrain along the Cache la Poudre River. Elevations in this area varies from 6,200 feet (1,900 m) to 8,600 feet (2,600 m). Only one trail, the Mount McConnel National Recreation Trail that is 3 miles (4.8 km) long, exists in this wilderness, and 9 miles (14 km) of the Little South Fork of the Cache La Poudre River flow through the wilderness.
Poudre Wilderness Volunteers (PWV) is a volunteer group that assists the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the US Forest Service (USFS). Poudre Wilderness Volunteers recruits and trains volunteers to serve as wilderness rangers and hosts for the purpose of educating the public and providing other support to the USFS.
Comanche Reservoir is a large reservoir in the Comanche Peak Wilderness in the Roosevelt National Forest within Colorado, United States. It lies on several hiking trails and is close to the Pingree Park wilderness campus of Colorado State University.
The Peak to Peak Scenic Byway is a 55-mile (89 km) National Forest Scenic Byway and Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway located in Gilpin, Boulder, Larimer counties, Colorado, USA. The Peak to Peak Highway was originally built in 1918 and provides views of the Front Range mountains in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. It was Colorado's first scenic highway. The Central City/Black Hawk Historic District is a National Historic Landmark.
The Arrowhead Lodge, at 34500 Poudre Canyon Hwy., Roosevelt National Forest, in Larimer County, Colorado, served by the post office in unincorporated Bellvue, Colorado, was a resort camp which was built in 1931. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Byers Peak, elevation 12,799 ft (3,901 m), is a mountain in Grand County, Colorado southwest of Fraser, Colorado. The mountain is part of the Byers Peak Wilderness and is the peak for which the wilderness area is named. Byers Peak is easily seen from Fraser and serves as an easily-identifiable landmark.
Pawnee Peak is a 12,943-foot (3,945 m) mountain summit on the boundary shared by Boulder County and Grand County, in Colorado, United States.