Mount Massive Wilderness

Mount Massive Wilderness was designated by Congress in 1980, and it now has a total of 30,540 acres. All of this wilderness is located in Colorado and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Forest Service.

The Mount Massive Wilderness is bordered by the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness to the west. Mount Massive (14,421 feet), Colorado's second highest peak, and other mountains of the Sawatch Range have two distinctive characteristics: great height and a huge, sloping bulk that makes them relatively easy to climb. Nowhere along the Continental Divide does the ground rise higher than the Sawatch Range, the crest of this continent. Just south of the wilderness stands Mount Elbert at 14,443 feet, Colorado's highest summit. The divide marks the western boundary of this area, with the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness immediately to the other side. Dry lodgepole pine forests, typical of the eastern slopes of the divide, cover much of the lower elevations and give way to spruce and fir higher up before all trees yield to alpine tundra.

The Leadville National Fish Hatchery, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, comprises about 2,500 acres. The majority of the fish hatchery lies within the boundary of the Mount Massive Wilderness. The hatchery land inside the wilderness boundary is co-managed by the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Forest Service is the principal land manager, protecting the wilderness resources. The Fish and Wildlife Service manages the fishery and water resources to protect and perpetuate native fish species.

The Colorado Trail #1776 crosses 10 miles of the eastern region, and only about 10 more miles of trails exist in this wilderness.

Please help keep wilderness wild by following Leave No Trace practices.