San Rafael, North A, Utah

Elevation ranges from approximately 4,100 feet on the desert flats and river corridors to 7,600 feet on the Cedar Mountain plateau. Cedar Mountain itself is a large desert plateau roughly 6,600-7,600 feet, rimmed by steep cliffs and precipitous slopes. Below the plateau, terrain transitions to flat, featureless desert with scattered rock outcroppings, dry creek and river beds, and low hills and foothills east of Castle Valley. The overall landscape is semi-arid high desert with pockets of broken canyon country.

The boundary is accessed from Price to the north via US-6 and US-10 (SR-10), and from I-70 along the southern edge. Gravel and dirt roads provide access to Cedar Mountain and most other parts of the unit. Two UDWR Wildlife Management Areas lie within the boundary: Desert Lake Waterfowl Management Area (east of Elmo) and Upper San Rafael WMA. BLM-managed campgrounds at The Wedge and Swinging Bridge serve as staging areas. The unit excludes all CWMUs, Native American Trust Lands, and National Park lands. Capitol Reef National Park bounds the western edge; the unit boundary follows the Capitol Reef NP boundary then continues northwest on the Cathedral Valley road and Last Chance Desert road system to the Blue Flats and Willow Springs roads back to I-70. The Green River forms the eastern boundary. Private land blocks exist within the unit (approximately 12% of total area per UDWR management plan); hunters must obtain permission from landowners before accessing private parcels.

The Cedar Mountain plateau is covered primarily by sagebrush and native grasses, with scattered aspen groves and limited ponderosa pine and spruce-fir at higher elevations. Canyon slopes and steep drainages dropping off the plateau support dense pinyon-juniper. Desert flats below are dominated by sagebrush, desert shrub, bunchgrasses, and forbs with largely bare ground. Riparian corridors along old creek beds carry cottonwood, willow, and riparian brush. Agricultural lands in Castle Valley (alfalfa, grass hay) provide additional forage habitat near the unit's northwestern fringe.

Mule deer are present in small, isolated herds concentrated primarily along agricultural corridors in Castle Valley and near available water and forage. UDWR explicitly does not establish population objectives for the San Rafael unit due to small and isolated deer herds resulting in inadequate sample sizes; however, deer numbers along agricultural corridors are not in decline and provide hunting opportunity to local hunters. Elk occur on Cedar Mountain and in scattered low-mountain foothills east of Castle Valley, but numbers are sparse. Pronghorn inhabit open sagebrush-desert terrain. Desert bighorn sheep occur in the San Rafael Swell canyon country within this geographic area. Mountain lion and black bear are present but not primary management targets in the low-elevation desert terrain.