Nine Mile, Gray Canyon, Utah

Extremely rugged canyon and plateau terrain spanning approximately 4,000 to 10,000+ feet in elevation. The Green River has carved Gray Canyon (and, to the north, Desolation Canyon) through Cretaceous-era sandstone and shale, producing cliff faces, talus slopes, and narrow canyon bottoms. The West Tavaputs Plateau rises steeply to a narrow band reaching nearly 10,000 feet with sheer drop-offs on multiple sides. Range Creek and other drainages cut deep subsidiary canyons through the plateau. Canyon bottoms at or near river level are below 4,500 feet; the plateau rim sits near 9,000–10,000 feet. Total vertical relief exceeds 5,600 feet across a horizontal distance of only 5–10 miles.

Primary vehicle access from the south is via the Nine Mile Canyon Road (approximately 46 miles, largely paved as of 2014) departing US-6/191 south of Wellington and connecting to the Argyle Canyon Road, which joins US-191 north of Price. From the north, SR-123 through the town of Sunnyside connects to the Water Canyon/Bruin Point Road, which ascends to the plateau summit. The Hastings Road runs north from Green River (US-6/191) to Swasey's Boat Ramp on the Green River, providing the main southern access corridor along the canyon's eastern edge. Cell service is absent throughout most of the canyons. The Green River corridor through Gray and Desolation canyons is accessible primarily by river float trip (84-mile segment); the BLM requires advance permits for private noncommercial floats. High-clearance or 4WD is recommended on plateau and canyon-rim roads, which become impassable when wet. A significant fraction of the private acreage within the Range Creek subunit (~75,448 acres) is enrolled in six Cooperative Wildlife Management Units (CWMUs), blocking public vehicle access to large sections of canyon bottoms and plateau edges. Walk-in distances exceeding 10 miles are required to reach some corners of public land. The Desolation Canyon Wilderness Study Area covers 66 of the 84 river miles and prohibits mechanized use. No National Forest lands are present in the Gray Canyon subunit; all federal land is BLM administered by the Price Field Office.

Vegetation varies dramatically with elevation. Canyon bottoms and river benches support riparian corridors of cottonwood, willow, box elder, and tamarisk along the Green River, transitioning to greasewood, saltbrush (shadscale), and basin big sagebrush on desert flats. Mid-elevation slopes carry cheatgrass and native bunchgrasses on open sunny aspects — the primary bighorn sheep habitat — with greasewood and saltbush on drier benches. Pinyon-juniper woodland dominates mid-slopes (roughly 5,500–7,500 ft) and north-facing draws, with sagebrush parks interspersed. Mountain mahogany and blackbrush occur on rocky ridgelines. The upper plateau supports mountain big sagebrush, mountain brush communities, and a narrow band of aspen and Douglas fir that serves as the primary elk summer range. Conifer encroachment into sagebrush parks and aspen is an active management concern.

Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep are the namesake species of the Gray Canyon subunit (hunt RS6712), with the high-density core population concentrated on open grassy slopes, talus cliffs, and canyon walls along the Green River and lower Price River corridor. A separate bighorn sheep hunt unit, Nine Mile, Jack Creek (RS6713), covers a distinct population in the upper Desolation/Jack Creek area. Elk use a seasonal pattern: summer range is a narrow high-elevation band of aspen and Douglas fir on the Tavaputs Plateau (typically above 8,000 ft), while winter range drops to mid-elevation sagebrush and canyon-bottom habitats; the Range Creek subunit held an estimated 2,200 elk as of 2022 (above the 1,800-elk management objective). Mule deer inhabit both the canyon country and the plateau, with sporadic densities; bucks and does use pinyon-juniper and sagebrush year-round in lower terrain and migrate to plateau grasslands in summer. A free-roaming bison population occupies portions of the Range Creek drainage and the Three Canyon area, originating from animals that dispersed from the adjacent Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation; the Ute Tribe has constructed bison-proof fencing to reduce further migration. Mountain lions use the entire unit, with an above-average cougar density supported by the sympatric deer and sheep prey base; the unit is designated a year-round bighorn sheep protection area with a liberal cougar harvest quota. Black bear and wild turkey are also present on the unit, concentrated in the forested plateau habitat.

1. BOUNDARY CLARIFICATION: In UDWR official nomenclature, 'Nine Mile, Gray Canyon' (hunt RS6712) is specifically the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep hunt boundary. A companion bighorn hunt, Nine Mile, Jack Creek (RS6713), covers the upper Desolation/Jack Creek population and runs the same season dates (Oct 31–Nov 30). Other species use different official boundary names: general deer uses 'Nine Mile,' elk uses 'Nine Mile, Range Creek' (subunit 11B), and pronghorn uses 'Nine Mile, Anthro-Myton Bench' and 'Nine Mile, Range Creek.' This profile treats 'Nine Mile, Gray Canyon' as the geographic area encompassing all overlapping boundaries. 2. EXTENDED ARCHERY: The 'Nine Mile, Green River Valley' area is an official 2026 extended archery deer area (either sex, Sept 12–Oct 15). Hunters must hold an archery buck deer permit and complete the annual online ethics course. 3. BISON SEASON: The Nine Mile OTC bison permit is an any-legal-weapon permit, not archery-specific; season is not defined by weapon type but by OTC availability starting July 7. The permit permanently forfeits future LE bison draw eligibility. 4. PRONGHORN MUZZLELOADER: The Nine Mile, Range Creek pronghorn subunit does not have a listed muzzleloader hunt in the 2026 Application Guidebook; the muzzleloader hunt (PB5059, Sep 23–Oct 1) applies to the Anthro-Myton Bench subunit only. 5. CWMU EXCLUSIONS: Approximately 75,448 acres in the Range Creek subunit are enrolled in six CWMUs, substantially restricting public land access. The bighorn sheep boundary explicitly excludes all CWMUs. 6. PUBLIC LAND PCT: The 70% figure is from GoHunt for the general Nine Mile deer unit (2,561 sq mi); the Gray Canyon bighorn subunit specifically is 84.4% BLM by modeled bighorn habitat acres. 7. NATIVE AMERICAN TRUST LANDS: All boundaries explicitly exclude Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation trust lands.