High Uintas Wilderness

Wilderness area in Utah, United States

The High Uintas Wilderness /juːˈɪntəz/ is a wilderness area located in northeastern Utah, United States. The wilderness covers the Uinta Mountains, encompassing parts of Duchesne and Summit counties. Designated as a wilderness in 1984, the area is located within parts of Ashley National Forest and Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The highest peak in Utah, Kings Peak, lies within the wilderness area along with some of Utah's highest peaks, particularly those over 13,000 feet (4,000 meters).

Mirror Lake Highway is closed in the winter, usually opening annually near Memorial Day. Winter access is allowed for snowmobiling (though snowmobiling is not allowed within the Wilderness Area), cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.

Summit ridge, High Uintas. Note series of glacial cirques gnawed into the ridge.

In popular culture

Despite being filmed in Canada, the area is specifically referred to in, and the setting for most of, the 2017 film The Mountain Between Us.

Climate

There is a SNOTEL weather station near Brown Duck Lake, in the southeast of the High Uintas Wilderness. Brown Duck has a subalpine climate (Köppen Dfc).

See also

• Ashley National Forest
• Uinta Highline Trail
• List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
• National Wilderness Preservation System
• Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest
• Wilderness Act

References

1. Protected Area Profile for High Uintas Wilderness from the World Database on Protected Areas. Retrieved May 2 2023.
2. "High Uintas Wilderness". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
3. "High Uintas Wilderness". Ashley National Forest, United States Forest Service. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
4. "xmACIS2". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
5. "Brown Duck, Utah 1991-2020 Monthly Normals". Retrieved November 17, 2023.

Further reading

• Lynna P. Howard, Utah's Wilderness Areas: The Complete Guide (Westcliffe Publishers, 2005) ISBN 1-56579-388-9
• Bill Cunningham & Polly Burke, Wild Utah: A Guide to 45 Roadless Recreation Areas (Falcon Publishing, 1998) ISBN 1-56044-616-1
• Jeffrey Probst & Brad Probst, High Uintas Backcountry: A Guide and Trip Planner (Outland Publishing, 1996) ISBN 0-9655871-2-6
• Mel Davis & John Veranth, High Uinta Trails (Wasatch Publishers, 1993) ISBN 0-915272-37-7
• Philip L. Fradkin, Sagebrush Country: Land and the American West (The University of Arizona Press, 1989) ISBN 0-8165-1236-1

External links

• "High Uintas Wilderness". Wilderness.net. Archived from the original on 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2009-01-30.