Cache, Wellsville, Utah

Extremely steep, narrow north-south ridgeline — one of the narrowest and steepest ranges in the Rocky Mountains, averaging about five miles wide at its base. The ridge rises abruptly from the Cache Valley floor (approximately 4,400 feet) to twin summits at Wellsville Cone (9,356 feet) and Box Elder Peak (9,372 feet). Canyons cut into the range from both east and west flanks. Upper winter range extends to about 7,000 feet under normal conditions, dropping to 5,400 feet (Box Elder Canyon) in severe winters. The adjacent valley floor is flat alluvial basin at 4,400–4,600 feet.

The Wellsville Mountain ridgeline and wilderness are managed by the USFS Logan Ranger District (Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest). The Wellsville Mountain Wilderness (23,850 acres) prohibits motorized and mechanized use; access is foot or horse only via approximately 17 miles of system trails. Two confirmed trailheads access the wilderness via the Wellsville Ridge Trail (#037): Rattlesnake Trailhead at Sardine Canyon (US-89) is the primary access point for Box Elder Peak and Wellsville Cone; Deep Canyon Trailhead north of Mendon is the northernmost access with the least abrupt elevation gain. A third trailhead, Maple Bench (south of Mendon), is cited in some sources as providing access to Stewart Pass, Scout Peak, and Mendon Peak — verify current status with the USFS Logan Ranger District. The western and southern boundary of the unit follows I-15 and US-91 respectively; the eastern edge follows US-89/91 (Sardine Canyon corridor) northeast to Logan. The Cache Valley floor within the boundary is almost entirely private agricultural and suburban land — hunters lack access without landowner permission. No significant BLM or state trust lands are documented within the Wellsville Mountains unit boundary. Several CWMUs (Green Canyon, Bluebell, Coldwater Ranch) exist in the broader Cache area; verify specific CWMU boundaries via the Utah Hunt Planner (hunt.utah.gov) before hunting.

Upper mountain slopes and ridgeline: aspen stands, mixed conifer, and subalpine meadows on the high ridge. Mid-slope transitional zone: mountain shrub communities including sagebrush and bitterbrush — key mule deer winter browse. Lower mountain flanks and winter range: sagebrush-bitterbrush shrubland, degraded in many areas by cheatgrass, bulbous bluegrass encroachment, and juniper expansion. Valley floor: irrigated hay meadows and agricultural fields (mostly private), with some riparian fringe along irrigation canals and creek drainages. Habitat condition on much of the winter range is rated poor to fair by UDWR range trend data, with high annual grass cover and declining native browse recruitment.

Mule deer are the primary big game species; they summer on the east-facing slopes of the Wellsville Mountains and migrate to the west-facing slopes and lower canyons each fall for winter range. Coldwater Canyon is a notable deer concentration area. The population objective for the broader Cache herd unit is 25,000 wintering deer, though postseason populations have tracked below objective (57–83% of objective in recent years, 2017–2021). Elk are present in the Cache Valley corridor and use the mountain terrain; the Cache, North limited-entry elk unit overlaps portions of this area. Moose occupy riparian corridors and mountain drainages and are huntable under the Cache moose once-in-a-lifetime permit. Black bears inhabit the forested upper slopes; Cache County is part of the Cache/Ogden bear management unit. Mountain lions are present but elusive. Bighorn sheep have been documented occasionally in the Wellsville Mountains wilderness but there are no established limited-entry bighorn sheep hunts within this specific boundary as of 2026. The Wellsville Mountains ridge is a well-known raptor migration corridor. Vehicle highway mortalities of deer are noted along the Wellsville Canyon crossing on US-89 within this boundary.

1. BOUNDARY SCOPE: Cache, Wellsville (BoundaryID 304) is a distinct sub-boundary of the larger Cache Deer Herd Unit 2 covering only the Wellsville Mountains and western Cache Valley corridor. It is NOT the same as the full Cache unit (BoundaryID 29) which extends east through the Wasatch Range into Rich County. 2. HARVEST STATS: Deer harvest figures (27.2% success, 512 harvest) are for the entire Cache general-season deer unit — UDWR does not publish sub-boundary breakdowns; actual Wellsville-portion results would be lower. 3. RESTRICTED WEAPONS: Cache unit is a restricted weapons deer unit for general-season muzzleloader and rifle hunts (2025–2028): traditional ignition only for muzzleloader; open or peep sights only for both; no semi-auto for rifle. Does NOT apply to limited-entry late muzzleloader hunts. 4. TRAILHEADS: USFS source confirms Rattlesnake (Sardine Canyon/US-89) and Deep Canyon (Mendon) trailheads for Wellsville Ridge Trail #037. Maple Bench Trailhead is cited in additional sources but not confirmed via USFS trail page — verify with Logan Ranger District. 5. ELK: No general-season elk hunt uses the Cache, Wellsville boundary by name. West Cache Extended Archery Area is archery-only. Cache, Meadowville (EB3003) is largely private — landowner permission required. 6. BIGHORN SHEEP: Occasional presence documented but no established hunt within this boundary as of 2026. 7. PUBLIC LAND %: No sourced figure available for boundary 304 specifically; set to null. 8. CWMUs: Verify any CWMU overlap via Utah Hunt Planner (hunt.utah.gov) before hunting.