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Lizard Head Additions Roadless Area Profile

At a Glance: Roadless additions to the existing Lizard Head Wilderness extend along the southern wilderness boundary, and include the start of the Kilpacker Creek Trail and forests southwest of Dolores Peak.

Threats: There should be relatively few threats to the roadless character of the Lizard Head wilderness additions. The Slate Creek and Meadows portions of the Lizard Head Addition Roadless Area fall outside the suitable timber base as designated in the 1992 Plan Amendment. The upper Fish Creek portion is identified as suitable for commercial timber harvest. However, extensive spruce clearcuts with extremely poor regeneration occur west of FDR 611 just downstream of the Fish Creek addition. The cumulative impacts of these previous clearcuts, the poor regeneration, and high elevation conspire to make timber harvest in the upper Fish Creek watershed of dubious wisdom. The area is also largely closed to year-round motorized use at present.

Adoption Duties for the Lizard Head Additions Roadless Area Include (but not limited to):

  • Engage is the management planning process for the San Juan Public Lands, advocating that the Lizard Head additions be proposed for  wilderness designation and not be an opportunity area for new motorized route creation (and further that existing motorized routes are not appropriate);
  • Engage in the travel management process, which will determine specific routes that will be legal motorized and non-motorized routes for years to come, and make sure the area retains its non-motorized status;
  • Get to know the area, monitoring any key routes where there are resource issues. Submit information gathered to the Forest Service.
  • Lead a hike or take your friends there so more people are connected to the place and interesting in protecting it.

Lizard Head Additions Area Details

• Download the Lizard Head Additions Roadless Area map [pdf]

Description: The 6,656-acre Lizard Head Addition Roadless Area is comprised of the forested toe slopes of the rugged peaks which form the core of the Lizard Head Wilderness. This fringe of mature spruce-fir forest runs from the wilderness boundary downhill to Highway 145 on Lizard Head Pass, FDR 535 around the Meadows, and FDR 611 southwest of Dolores Peak. The dark forest nicely complements the existing wilderness which consists largely of alpine peaks, rocks, and ice.

The Lizard Head Addition Roadless Area receives relatively little recreational use other than the start of the Kilpacker Creek Trail which is a popular approach route for climbing El Diente Peak. The forests and glades of the area offer a refreshing change from the popularity of the three fourteeners and Navajo Lake basin at the heart of the wilderness. These adjacent unroaded areas complement the outstanding primitive recreation and solitude opportunities present in the wilderness.

There are no significant human imprints in the form of roads or past timber sales other than perhaps some informal social camping tracks in the upper Fish Creek drainage. The Groundhog Stock Driveway forms the boundary between the Slate Creek roadless portion and the existing wilderness. This is little more than a wide trail.
     
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