Weminuche Wilderness

Use the park page to learn about local hiking, nature, trailheads, trail and route maps, and groups that meet here. If you know something about this area. Please feel welcome to write about it here.

General Information

Weminuche is a Wilderness Area located in south-west Colorado. Wilderness areas are specially designated areas where no vehicles can travel and the trails and roads are more suited for trekking than walking or even hiking. Usually wilderness areas are part of some larger blocks of land that are protected for preservation. In the case of Weminuche Wilderness, it is partially inside San Juan and the Rio Grande National Forests.

The Wilderness area spans almost 500,000 acres and it is the biggest wilderness area in all of Colorado.

Trailheads

Trailhead Name: Vallecito Trailhead

Trailhead Description: At Vallecito Campgrounds

Parking is available at this trailhead

Parking spots: 0

Parking cost at the trailhead is unknown

Wheelchair accessibility is unknown

Restroom availability is unknown

Routes and Trails You Can Travel

We currently do not have any record of good routes in this park.

Hiking

The hiking at Weminuche is more like trekking. Since it is a wilderness area, most of the paths are either very scarcely maintained, or not maintained at all. In areas with no paths, people often have to find their own way. Be careful when you are there. People who sustain injuries can not readily be helped because motorized vehicles are not allowed in wilderness areas. So rescue or any kind of help will be slow to get to you.

Many wilderness areas require special permits and training. Not everyone is allowed to enter the area since not everyone has the proper wilderness survival skills.

For those who like to hike up to high elevations, there are a few large mountains in the area: Juan Mountains, Mount Eolus, Sunlight Peak and Windom Peak.

Trails

There are about 475 total miles of trails at Weminuche which goes through a number of very different types of terrains. Some of the terrain is made up of peaks and ridges, while other is formed by lava beds from volcanoes that erupted thousands of years ago.

One popular and very long trail is the Continental Divide Trail which runs through the middle of Weminuche for about 80 miles.

Another trail at the wilderness is the Colorado Trail which spans about 21 miles from Molas Pass to the Rio Grande. Be aware that this is a very popular trail for a wilderness area and it gets many visitors and travelers and backpacking enthusiasts. It can become a little crowded when compared to other wilderness areas in which it is somewhat rare to run into other people.

Climate and Weather

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History

Weminuche Wilderness was established in 1975.

Wildlife

Birds

Trees

Flowers

Other Plants

Camping Possibilities

Other Information

Weminuche Wilderness contains the headwaters of a number of streams which eventually flow into rivers like Rio Grande and San Juan rivers.

Parking

Driving Directions

Park Map