Pike-San Isabel National Forests

Stretching from the shortgrass prairies near Pueblo to the highest summits in Colorado, Pike-San Isabel National Forests encompass over 2.2 million acres of remarkably diverse terrain including Pikes Peak (14,115 ft), Mount Elbert (14,440 ft, the highest point in Colorado), and the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness with its extraordinary concentration of eight fourteeners. The forest spans two major mountain ranges -- the Front Range and the Sawatch Range -- creating a landscape that transitions from rolling foothills through dense montane forests to alpine tundra above treeline.\n\nThe Arkansas River carves through the heart of the forest and provides premier gold-medal fly fishing for brown and rainbow trout, while Browns Canyon National Monument protects a stunning stretch of whitewater rafting. The Lost Creek Wilderness features a labyrinth of granite domes and spires with a disappearing creek that flows underground through massive boulder fields. Pike-San Isabel provides critical watershed for Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and surrounding Front Range communities, making it one of the most strategically important forests in the state for municipal water supply. The forest supports robust populations of elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats, while its high-elevation lakes and streams harbor native greenback cutthroat trout, Colorado's state fish.