The Mount Massive Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area in the Sawatch Range, located in the US state of Colorado. It is operated jointly by the United States Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the San Isabel National Forest and the Leadville National Fish Hatchery. It is 30,540 acres (123.6 km2) in size, with 27,980 acres (113.2 km2) in San Isabel National Forest and 2,560 acres (10.4 km2) in Leadville National Fish Hatchery, and it was designated by the US Congress in 1980. The name comes from Mount Massive, the second highest peak in Colorado, located inside the wilderness. Elevations in the wilderness range from 9,700 feet (3,000 m) to 14,421 feet (4,396 m). It is the only federally designated wilderness area within the National Fish Hatchery System.
On the west side, the Continental Divide separates the Mount Massive Wilderness from the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness, part of the White River National Forest.
Trailheads accessing the wilderness are:
- Hagerman Pass Road – The Colorado Trail, Native Lake and Windsor Lake Trailhead
- US Fish Hatchery – The Rock Creek Trailhead
- Halfmoon Creek Trailhead – Mt. Elbert/Mt. Massive Trailhead and the North Halfmoon Lake Trailhead
Famous quotes containing the words mount, massive and/or wilderness:
“Nixon is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump for a speech on conservation.”
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965)
“Our capacity to retaliate must be, and is, massive in order to deter all forms of aggression.”
—John Foster Dulles (1888–1959)
“What is most striking in the Maine wilderness is the continuousness of the forest, with fewer open intervals or glades than you had imagined. Except the few burnt lands, the narrow intervals on the rivers, the bare tops of the high mountains, and the lakes and streams, the forest is uninterrupted.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)