The Uncompahgre Wilderness (formerly called the Big Blue Wilderness) is a

U.S. Wilderness Area The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...

in southwest

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

comprising . Elevation in the Wilderness ranges from to , at the summit of Uncompahgre Peak. Managed by the

Uncompahgre National Forest Uncompahgre National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 955,229 acres (1,492.55 sq mi, or 3,865.68 km2) in (in descending order of land area) parts of Montrose County, Colorado, Montrose, Mesa County, Colorado, Mesa, San Miguel Count ...

, it is located approximately northwest of the town of Lake City and some east of the town of Ouray. The area is named for

Uncompahgre Peak Uncompahgre Peak () is the sixth highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The prominent fourteener is the highest summit of the San Juan Mountains and the highest point in the drainage basin of ...

, which at is the highest peak in the

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

. The Wilderness includes one other prominent fourteener,

Wetterhorn Peak Wetterhorn Peak (german: Wetterhorn, literally ''Weather Horn'') is a fourteener, fourteen thousand foot mountain peak in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Uncompahgre Wilderness of the northern San Juan Mountains, in northwestern ...

at .

Mining claim

Located within the Uncompahgre Wilderness is the Robin Redbreast Gold Mine, owned by Robert and Marjorie Miller of Montrose, Colorado. Marjorie Miller's father staked the claims in 1938, more than 50 years before the land was designated Wilderness, and was preserved by the

General Mining Act of 1872 The General Mining Act of 1872 is a United States federal law that authorizes and governs prospecting and mining for economic minerals, such as gold, platinum, and silver, on federal public lands. This law, approved on May 10, 1872, codified the ...

. The Forest Service has established requirements that would lessen mining impacts, such as reducing motorized vehicle use and night lighting. The Millers say workers will use picks and shovels to extract ore, haul it out with mule teams over existing trails, and use helicopters to deliver larger equipment to avoid the impacts of truck use. Environmental groups have expressed concern that Acid Rock Drainage and the human footprint created by mining activities will degrade the Wilderness.

Notes

{{Protected areas of Colorado, state=collapsed Protected areas of Gunnison County, Colorado Protected areas of Hinsdale County, Colorado IUCN Category Ib Protected areas of Ouray County, Colorado Wilderness areas of Colorado Protected areas established in 1980 Uncompahgre National Forest