Red Mountain Wilderness (Utah)

Not to be confused with Red Mountain Wilderness (Nevada).

Red Mountain Wilderness
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
Red Mountain Wilderness
Location	Washington County, Utah, USA
Nearest city	Ivins, UT
Coordinates	37°14′34″N 113°42′09″W[1]
Area	18,729 acres (75.8 km^2)
Established	March 30, 2009
Governing body	Bureau of Land Management

The Red Mountain Wilderness (Utah) is a 18,729-acre (75.8 km^2) wilderness area in the US state of Utah. It was designated March 30, 2009, as part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. Located six miles northeast of St. George, it is bordered by Snow Canyon State Park to the east and the Shivwitz Indian Reservation to the southwest. Approximately one-half of the wilderness is located within the recently designated Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.[2] Prehistoric use by the Southern Paiute Indians has been documented at seven sites in the area, and the BLM estimates archeological site densities between 4 and 40 per square mile.[3]

The namesake of the wilderness is Red Mountain, a great block of Navajo sandstone bounded by the Gunlock Fault on the west, and by the Santa Clara River valley and Snow Canyon on the south and east.

Vegetation

The mixing of species from the Mojave and Great Basin deserts makes for unusually diverse vegetation in the Red Mountains Wilderness, which includes pinyon pine, juniper, sagebrush, ponderosa pine, yucca, agave, and Gambel oak.[3]

Wildlife

Common wildlife in the wilderness include mule deer, mountain lion, peregrine falcon, and bald eagle.[3]

See also

• List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
• Wilderness Act

References

1. "Red Mountain Wilderness (Utah) Map". Wilderness.net. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
2. "Red Cliffs NCA" (PDF). Bureau of Land Management.
3. "The Red Mountain Wilderness". Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

External links

• Red Mountain Wilderness - Wilderness.net
• Map of wilderness areas in north-central Washington County, Utah