Unit 40, Colorado

Elevations range from approximately 4,560 feet in the canyon bottoms along the Colorado River and Dolores River drainages to approximately 9,800 feet on the flat plateau summits of Pinon Mesa and Glade Park (the Pinon Mesa high point is recorded at 9,692 ft). The unit is characterized by a relatively flat mesa top that drops into deep, rugged sandstone canyons bisecting the landscape. Terrain difficulty is mild to moderate on the mesa but remote and steep in the canyons, which are generally accessible only by foot or horseback. The unit encompasses roughly 475,150 acres (742 square miles).

The unit is bounded on the north by the Colorado River (I-70 corridor, Fruita/Grand Junction area), on the east by US Highway 50, on the south by Colorado State Highway 141 and the Dolores River (Gateway townsite), and on the west by the Utah state line. Colorado National Monument (~32 square miles) lies within the unit and is closed to hunting. Primary vehicle access to the northern Glade Park area is via Glade Park Road departing south from Colorado National Monument (reached from I-70 Fruita exit). Access to the southern Pinon Mesa area is off CO-141 near Gateway. The BLM Grand Junction Field Office (2815 H Road, Grand Junction, CO 81506; 970-244-3000) administers the majority of public land. The McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area (~123,000 acres) and the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness (~75,439 acres total, ~70,300 acres in Colorado) lie within or adjacent to the unit. Two seasonally rotated access roads serve Rattlesnake Arches and Mee Canyon trailheads: the Upper Road is open April 15–August 15, the Lower Road August 15–February 15, and both are closed to motor vehicles February 15–April 15; high-clearance 4x4 required for the final 1.5 miles. Four BLM Wilderness Study Areas provide additional roadless habitat. Canyon interiors throughout the unit require hiking or horseback travel. Many roads dead-end at private property boundaries; approximately 38% of the unit is private land, and late-season elk and deer habitat is disproportionately on private ground.

Lower-elevation canyon floors support riparian corridors of cottonwood and willow along the Colorado and Dolores Rivers. Ascending from roughly 4,600 to 6,500 feet, desert shrub communities of pinyon pine, juniper, and sagebrush dominate the arid slopes and canyon rims. Middle elevations (approximately 6,500–8,000 feet) transition into sagebrush, oakbrush (Gambel oak), and grass meadows with scattered aspen pockets. Upper mesa elevations carry aspen parks, spruce-fir stands, and montane meadows. A small isolated parcel of Grand Mesa National Forest lands (~12 square miles) sits within the unit almost entirely surrounded by private land.

Elk are the marquee species; the unit carries an above-objective herd managed via limited draw licenses and a late-season cow hunt (Dec 1–15). Elk summer on higher mesa elevations and move to lower canyon and sagebrush-oakbrush zones during the rut (early September) and through winter. Mule deer are present throughout and the unit is part of the Book Cliffs corridor consistently producing Boone and Crockett-class bucks; they utilize lower pinyon-juniper and canyon edges in winter, moving to mesa tops and aspen parks in summer. Black bear are common and an add-on OTC bear license is available with qualifying elk or deer tags. Mountain lion are present throughout the unit. Pronghorn occur in small numbers, primarily on mesa tops. Desert bighorn sheep (GMU S56) inhabit the McInnis Canyons NCA and Black Ridge Canyons cliff country; note that this herd has experienced pneumonia outbreaks with significant die-offs and reduced lamb recruitment in recent years. Wild turkey are present in Glade Park and Pinon Mesa riparian drainages. Golden and bald eagles are observed in canyon country.