Unit 46, Colorado

Elevation ranges from approximately 5,100 feet in the eastern foothills along US Highway 285 to 14,264 feet on Mount Evans (GoHunt cites 7,700 ft as the floor for the higher western portion; HuntScore's 5,100 ft reflects eastern Jefferson County foothills — both are plausible for different parts of the unit boundary). The western two-thirds is rugged mountainous country featuring 14,000-foot peaks, glacial cirques, rocky outcroppings, steep drainages, and high alpine tundra. The mid-elevations contain heavily forested slopes interspersed with open parks, avalanche chutes, and ridgelines. The eastern fringe drops into foothill terrain with gentler grades and broader valleys along the North Fork of the South Platte River. Roughly 80% of the public-land terrain has slopes of 26 degrees or less according to HuntScore terrain analysis.

Primary access highway is US Highway 285, which forms the eastern and southern boundary of the unit running through Bailey and Fairplay. From Grant, Park County Road 62 / USFS Road 118 (Guanella Pass Scenic Byway) heads north through Geneva Park, providing the main west-side corridor with trailheads for the Abyss Lake Trail (#602), Rosalie Trail (#603), Burning Bear Trail (#601), South Park Trail (#600), Threemile Trail (#635), and Mount Bierstadt Trail (#711). The Guanella Pass summit road is seasonally closed from approximately Thanksgiving through Memorial Day weekends; the winter closure gate sits 7 miles north of Grant at NFSR 119 (Geneva Creek Road). Several other forest roads have January 1–June 15 closures including Crow Gulch/Slaughterhouse Road 101, Beaver Creek Road 123, and Kenosha Pass area roads. The unit is administered by Pike-San Isabel National Forests, South Platte Ranger District (US Hwy 285 near Conifer, CO; phone 303-275-5610). The Mount Evans Wilderness (74,401 acres, spanning both Pike and Arapaho NFs) dominates the high-elevation western portion; occupancy and use restrictions are in effect September 21, 2024 through December 31, 2028, including group size caps of 15 people (or a maximum of 25 combined people and pack/saddle animals), camping setbacks of 100 feet from water and trails, and campfire prohibition within 100 feet of water or trails — hunting itself remains permitted. Reservation hunting is available on Centennial Cone (Jefferson County Open Space) and Green Ranch (Colorado State Parks). Private land (approximately 24% of the unit) includes ranch parcels concentrated in lower valleys; hunters should verify access before entering lower-elevation private inholdings. Developed campgrounds on the south side of Guanella Pass include Burning Bear and Geneva Park; no grocery stores, hotels, or hospitals within 20 miles of the unit core.

The unit spans several distinct cover types with elevation: alpine tundra and barren rock above treeline (~11,500 ft); subalpine spruce-fir and bristlecone pine forests on upper slopes; lodgepole pine and aspen stands through mid-elevations; ponderosa pine and mixed conifer on lower east-facing slopes; oakbrush, mountain mahogany, and sagebrush shrubfields on drier south-facing slopes and valley edges; and riparian cottonwood and willow along the North Fork of the South Platte River, Geneva Creek, and other drainages. Burning Bear Creek corridor and Hall Valley provide open meadow and park habitat within the conifer matrix.

Rocky Mountain elk are the primary big game species, utilizing high-elevation summer range in the alpine parks and upper drainages before migrating to lower-elevation winter range in the South Platte valley and surrounding foothills as snow deepens. Mule deer follow a similar elevational migration pattern. Shiras moose are present along riparian corridors — particularly the North Fork of the South Platte River, Geneva Creek, and Burning Bear Creek drainage — and are most visible in willow and aspen zones. Black bear are distributed widely through the mid-elevation conifer and aspen belt from summer through late fall. Mountain lions inhabit the unit year-round, following prey concentrations across the steep forested terrain. Wild turkey are present in lower-elevation ponderosa pine and oakbrush zones near the US 285 corridor.

1. TOTAL HARVEST DATA (19.7% success, 199 harvest, 661 hunters for 2022) from HuntScore covers ALL species combined in GMU 46, not elk-specific — no species-level breakdown was publicly accessible without a paid subscription. 2. OTC elk status for GMU 46 is inferred from statewide rules (2nd/3rd rifle season OTC applies to many Colorado units; GMU 46 was not among units changed to draw in 2025-2026 announcements) but was NOT explicitly confirmed in a publicly accessible CPW brochure — hunters must verify hunt codes in the current Big Game Brochure before purchasing. 3. Pronghorn removed from species_data: the unit seed record does not list pronghorn as a species, and the overwhelmingly mountainous forested terrain makes this a marginal-to-nonexistent pronghorn unit; any pronghorn listing may reflect administrative records rather than active hunt codes. 4. Turkey removed from species_data: not listed in unit seed species; mention retained in wildlife narrative for lower-elevation foothill zones only. 5. Moose, mountain lion, and deer draw odds and tag quotas for unit 46 specifically were not accessible from public sources. 6. 2026 season dates sourced from multiple reputable third-party publishers citing the 2026 CPW Big Game Brochure; minor variation between sources on 3rd rifle end date (Nov 15 vs Nov 17) — use CPW brochure for definitive dates. 7. Mount Evans Wilderness group-size restrictions confirmed via USFS fetch: max 15 people per group, or max 25 combined people and pack/saddle animals; camping and campfire setback 100 ft from water and trails; effective Sep 21 2024 – Dec 31 2028; hunting remains permitted. 8. Elevation floor discrepancy: GoHunt cites 7,700 ft, HuntScore cites 5,100 ft — both are plausibly correct for different parts of the unit boundary (higher western terrain vs. eastern Jefferson County foothills).