San Juan Citizens Alliance - Wilderness & Public Lands

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Squaretop Roadless Area Profile

At a Glance: Squaretop Roadless Area surrounds the northern end of the South San Juan Wilderness. It includes the site of the previously proposed East Fork Ski Area (now defunct) along the San Juan River’s East Fork Valley, and Squaretop Mountain itself. The area is northeast of Pagosa Springs, accessed by the Milll Creek Road or the East Fork Road.

Threats: Once upon a time, Squaretop’s primary threat was the proposed East Fork Ski Area, a massive new resort development. The proponent declined to pursue development and the ski area permit lapsed in the early 1990s, but a more recent threat was the Piano Creek Ranch luxury resort, which also failed in 2001. Essentially none of the Squaretop roadless area includes any commercially suitable timber lands, other than small portions along the area’s extreme western edges. Past high-elevation clearcuts in the headwaters of the Rito Blanco have never regenerated, strongly suggesting the climate and soils make the area inappropriate for timber harvest. The entire unit is closed to summer motorized recreational travel. Small portions are open to winter snowmobile use, but topography greatly limits the extent of this use.

Adoption Duties for the Squaretop Roadless Area Include (but not limited to):

Engage is the management planning process for the San Juan Public Lands, advocating that Squaretop be proposed for wilderness designation, and not be an opportunity area for new motorized route creation;
Engage in the travel management process, which will determine specific routes that will be legal motorized and non-motorized routes for years to come;
Monitor the status of development in the East Fork Valley, and ensure that no new ski resorts or other developments gain a foothold;
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.

Squaretop Area Details

• Download the Squaretop Roadless Area map [pdf]

Description: Squaretop is one of two large roadless areas contiguous to the South San Juan Wilderness. The 158,790-acre South San Juan Wilderness is considered by many Colorado’s wildest landscape. This reputation relates to the belief the South San Juans harbor the last remnant population of grizzly bears in the Southern Rocky Mountains. The South San Juans are considered suitable for two other rare species as well, the Canada lynx and the wolverine. Three RNAs are proposed within the existing wilderness, further highlighting the pristine nature of the South San Juans wilderness ecosystem.

The largest adjacent roadless area is the 26,429-acre Squaretop Mountain unit, which is draped around the northwest quadrant of the wilderness. Squaretop Mountain encompasses the dense forests of largely mixed conifer and aspen blanketing the lower slopes between the Rio Blanco and Rito Blanco. Significant stands of old-growth spruce occur at the area’s highest elevations near the wilderness boundary. The roadless area contains the most significant low-elevation landscape corridor in the San Juans, the densely forested connection between the South San Juan and Weminuche Wilderness Areas bridging Highway 160 between Johnny Creek and Turkey Creek.

The Johnny Creek corridor extends down to ponderosa pine forests at its lowest elevations along the San Juan River. This corridor follows an elk migration route and is the most logical movement route for forest-dwelling species such as lynx, wolverine, and pine marten dispersing from the South San Juans to the Weminuche and back. On the wilderness area’s north boundary, the roadless area includes the Clamshell area, site of the now-defunct proposed East Fork Ski Area.

Several wilderness trails originating at trailheads on the roadless area boundary head into the wilderness from the Squaretop Mountain. The combined Squaretop/South San Juan complex offers some of Colorado’s most extraordinary opportunities for primitive recreation opportunities in a setting of outstanding solitude.

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SAN JUAN CITIZENS ALLIANCE - DEDICATED TO SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN THE SAN JUAN BASIN
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