Unit 55, Idaho

Elevations range from approximately 4,100 feet in the valley floors to 10,339 feet at Cache Peak in the southern Albion Mountains; Mount Harrison, reached by paved Howell Canyon Road, tops out at 9,265 feet. The unit encompasses roughly 1,015 square miles (648,768 acres) of isolated mountain ranges separated by sagebrush valleys. Rugged canyon country characterizes the Goose Creek and Raft River drainages along the southern boundary; northern slopes carry heavy timber while south-facing aspects are more open and rocky.

Unit 55 is approximately 52% public land (BLM 34.93%, Sawtooth National Forest/USFS 11.61%, State of Idaho 4.56%, NPS 1.25%) and 48% private (IDFG unit page). Primary highway corridors: US-30/SH-81 through Burley and Malta along the northern boundary; SH-27 south from Burley to Oakley on the western edge; the Oakley-Goose Creek Road runs south to the Utah state line. The Sawtooth National Forest Minidoka Ranger District (208-678-0430) manages two major divisions inside Unit 55: the Albion Division (~95,000 acres, accessed via paved Howell Canyon Road out of Albion, leading to the Lake Cleveland campground at 8,263 feet and the Mount Harrison fire lookout) and the Cassia Division (~234,000 acres, the South Hills terrain directly south of Twin Falls, accessed from the Oakley/Burley area off SH-27). A Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) is required to identify open motorized routes on Forest Service land. BLM Twin Falls District manages the Jim Sage Mountains and lower-elevation BLM parcels (208-736-2350). The City of Rocks National Reserve (NPS, Almo; nps.gov/ciro) is open to hunting — no off-road motorized travel, no shooting from or across roadways. Castle Rocks State Park is also open to hunting. No federally designated Wilderness areas fall within Unit 55. No Access Yes! properties are listed as available in the unit. Hunters should carry GPS with land-ownership data given the checkerboard of private and public parcels.

Lowland valley floors support sagebrush, greasewood, rabbitbrush, native bunchgrasses, and low shrubs; scattered juniper stands occur at mid-foothills. Mid-elevation slopes feature mountain mahogany, bitterbrush, chokecherry, serviceberry, and aspen. Upper elevations on the Sawtooth National Forest Cassia Division (South Hills) carry mixed subalpine fir, lodgepole pine, and aspen interspersed with rolling grasslands; the Albion Division transitions into denser subalpine forest to approximately 10,300 feet. Riparian corridors along Big Cottonwood Creek and Goose Creek support willows, cottonwoods, and brush. Land cover: approximately 55% rangeland, 17% forest, and 25% irrigated agriculture (IDFG unit page: rangeland 54.77%, forest 16.9%, irrigated ag 25.26%).

Mule deer are the primary big-game species, concentrated on higher-elevation public-land slopes in season and moving to lower sagebrush-juniper winter range. White-tailed deer occur in smaller numbers near agricultural lands in the northern end of the unit around Burley and Oakley. Elk populations are scattered and relatively low-density; the unit falls in the South Hills Elk Zone (Units 46, 47, 54, 55, 56, 57) and archery elk opportunity is limited compared to adjacent units. Pronghorn antelope inhabit the lower sagebrush flats and are present in huntable numbers, particularly in the western and southern portions of the unit. California bighorn sheep hold in the rugged canyon terrain of the southern Albion and adjacent ranges (hunt area straddles Units 54 and 55). Moose are present in small numbers in riparian willow/aspen drainages; IDFG allocates only 3 antlered moose tags (Hunt 3057). Mountain lion range throughout. Gray wolf are present and huntable. Upland birds include chukar, Hungarian (gray) partridge, sage-grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, turkey, pheasant, quail, and dove. No general black bear season is established in Unit 55.