The Weminuche Wilderness is a wilderness area in southwest Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 managed by the United States Forest Service

United States Forest Service

The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...

 as part of the San Juan National Forest

San Juan National Forest

The San Juan National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering over 1,878,846 acres in Archuleta, Conjeos, Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mineral, Montezuma, Rio Grande, San Miguel and San Juan Counties in western Colorado. It borders the Uncompahgre National Forest to the north and the Rio Grande...

 on the west side of the Continental Divide

Continental Divide

The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...

 and the Rio Grande National Forest

Rio Grande National Forest

Rio Grande National Forest is a 1.86 million acre U.S. National Forest located in southwestern Colorado. The forest encompasses the San Luis Valley, which is the world's largest agricultural alpine valley, as well as one of the worlds largest high deserts located around mountains. The...

 on the east side of the divide. It is about 5 miles (8 km) south east of the town of Silverton

Silverton, Colorado

The town of Silverton is a Statutory Town that is the county seat of, and the only incorporated municipality in, San Juan County, Colorado, United States. Silverton is a former silver mining camp, most or all of which is now included in a federally designated National Historic Landmark District,...

 and about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Durango

Durango, Colorado

The City of Durango is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau said that the city population was 16,887 in 2010 census.-History:...

. At 488,210 acres (1975 km²), it is the largest wilderness area in the state of Colorado. Within the wilderness can be found three fourteeners of the San Juan Mountains

San Juan Mountains

The San Juan Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado. The area is highly mineralized and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and...

; Mount Eolus

Mount Eolus

Mount Eolus is a fourteener in the U.S. state of Colorado, the highest of the Needle Mountains . It is located in the Weminuche Wilderness in La Plata County approximately south of Silverton.Mount Eolus is one of three fourteeners in the Needle Mountains; the others are Sunlight Peak and Windom...

, Sunlight Peak

Sunlight Peak

Sunlight Peak is a fourteener in the Needle Mountains, a subrange of the San Juan Mountains in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Weminuche Wilderness in La Plata County approximately 13 miles south of Silverton.Sunlight Peak is one of three fourteeners in the Needle Mountains; the...

 and Windom Peak

Windom Peak

Windom Peak is a fourteener in the Needle Mountains, a subrange of the San Juan Mountains in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Weminuche Wilderness in La Plata County approximately south of Silverton....

, in addition to numerous thirteeners and other peaks of note.

External links

• Wilderness.net wilderness information