The Lone Peak Wilderness is a

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural) are Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally ...

located within the Uinta and the Wasatch-Cache National Forests in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. The Lone Peak Wilderness was established in 1978 as part of the Endangered American Wilderness Act and was the only designated wilderness area in Utah until the enactment of the Utah Wilderness Act of 1984. Situated in the central

Wasatch Range The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Gr ...

on the Wasatch-Cache and Uinta National Forests, this wilderness is generally bounded on the north by

Little Cottonwood Canyon Little Cottonwood Canyon lies within the Wasatch-Cache National Forest along the eastern side of the Salt Lake Valley, roughly 15 miles from Salt Lake City, Utah. The canyon is part of Granite, a CDP and "Community Council" designated by Salt ...

, on the south by American Fork Canyon, on the west by the

Salt Lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

and

Utah Valley Utah Valley is a valley in North Central Utah located in Utah County, Utah, Utah County, and is considered part of the Wasatch Front. It contains the cities of Provo, Utah, Provo, Orem, Utah, Orem, and their suburbs, including Alpine, Utah, A ...

s, and on the east by

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

. Timpanogos Cave National Monument is adjacent to the south boundary of the wilderness.

Geology

The Lone Peak Wilderness provides a spectacular backdrop for the growing urban areas along the Wasatch Front and is dominated by rugged terrain, narrow canyons, and high peaks, including the

Pfeifferhorn The Pfeifferhorn is the triangularly-shaped peak located in the most isolated part of the Lone Peak Wilderness Area of the Wasatch Mountains in northern Utah, United States. This rugged Utah mountain, commonly referred to as the Little Matterho ...

, commonly referred to as ''Little

Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...

Peak'', at and

Lone Peak Lone Peak is a mountain summit in the Wasatch Range southeast of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and the center of the Lone Peak Wilderness, established in 1978. With an elevation of , it is one of the highest peaks in the range and among ...

at . The geologic structure of the area is varied and complex, consisting of

granitoid A granitoid is a broad term referring to a diverse group of coarse-grained igneous rocks that are widely distributed across the globe, covering a significant portion of the Earth's exposed surface and constituting a large part of the continental ...

rock masses and several sedimentary formations. The carving of the present alpine topography is due to

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate be ...

, with erosion being the current dominant force in the land sculpturing process. Much of the higher elevation is alpine, characterized by large, open cirque basins and exposed rocky ridges. A few small natural and reservoir lakes add to the scenic beauty.

Vegetation

Vegetation includes dense mountain brush mixed with

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia (plant), Artemisia''. The best-known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrush is native to the western half of North Amer ...

and

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

. Patches of

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

, subalpine fir, and

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

are common in isolated patches on north-facing slopes. Snow remains in some areas until mid-summer.

Restrictions

To preserve and protect the physical and aesthetic environment, National Forest wildernesses are closed to motor vehicles, motorized equipment, hang gliders, and bicycles. In addition, parts of this wilderness lie within the culinary watershed for Salt Lake County, and special restrictions concerning camping, swimming, and domestic animals apply. The following acts are prohibited in the Lone Peak Wilderness Area: * Group sizes exceeding 10 people for overnight use * Camping within of lakes, trails, or other sources of water * Camping for a period of 3 days at an individual site * Short-cutting a trail switchback, and * Disposing of garbage, debris, or other waste. Additionally, open fires are not allowed in the Red Pine Lake, Red Pine Fork, and Maybird Gulch drainages within the wilderness.

Trails

Most trails are rated moderate to severe, with elevations ranging from to more than . Trails are easy to follow but may cross extremely rough terrain at high elevations. The use of the area is light to moderate, heaviest on weekends, holidays, and during hunting seasons.

Weather

Summer temperatures can range from near in the daytime to below at night. Occasional summer thundershowers can be expected.Lone Peak Wilderness
- GORP

References

* Lynna P. Howard, ''Utah's Wilderness Areas: The Complete Guide'' (Westcliffe Publishers, 2005) * Bill Cunningham & Polly Burke, ''Wild Utah: A Guide to 45 Roadless Recreation Areas'' (Falcon Publishing, 1998) * U.S. Forest Service map, ''Lone Peak & Mt. Timpanogos Wildernesses'' (U.S. Forest Service, 2004)

External links

Wilderness.net
- Lone Peak Wilderness
Wasatch-Cache National Forest
- Lone Peak Wilderness
Google Maps satellite view
{{Authority control Protected areas of Salt Lake County, Utah Protected areas of Utah County, Utah Wilderness areas of Utah Wasatch-Cache National Forest Wasatch Range Uinta National Forest Protected areas established in 1978 1978 establishments in Utah