Pike National Forest

Pike National Forest
IUCN category VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources)
Near Devil's Head Lookout
Location	Clear Creek, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Park, and Teller counties, Colorado, USA
Nearest city	Colorado Springs, CO
Area	1,106,604 acres (4,478.27 km2)
Established	February 1892
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service
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Pike National Forest map

The Pike National Forest is located in the Front Range of Colorado, USA, west of Colorado Springs and including Pikes Peak. The forest encompasses 1,106,604 acres (4,478 km²) within Clear Creek, Teller, Park, Jefferson, Douglas and El Paso counties. The major rivers draining the forest are the South Platte and Fountain Creek. Rampart Reservoir, a large artificial body of water, is located within the forest.

The forest is named after American explorer Zebulon Pike.

Much of the bedrock within Pike National Forest is made up of the coarse, pink to orange Pikes Peak granite.

Administration

Pike National Forest is managed in association with San Isabel National Forest and Comanche National Grassland in Colorado, as well as Cimarron National Grassland in Kansas and is headquartered in Pueblo, Colorado. There are local ranger district offices located in Colorado Springs, Fairplay and Morrison.

==Hayman fire==

Pike National Forest in the fall.

Main article: Hayman fire

Pike National Forest was the location of the massive 138,114-acre (558.93 km²) Hayman Wildfire of 2002.

The Pike and San Isabel National Forest was recently awarded a major reclamation project to fix the damage from the Hayman wildfire. The project was sponsored by The National Arbor Day Foundation, in conjunction with several university bookstores. Pike and San Isabel was voted the winner from a group of three separate forests. The vote took place at www.buildaforest.com. The school who placed the most votes for Pike and San Isabel National Forest was the University of Central Florida; the Pike and San Isabel National Forest will be a given a name honoring the effort by UCF students, alumni, and supporters.

Wilderness areas

There are three officially designated wilderness areas lying within Pike National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Two of them extend into neighboring National Forests (as indicated).

• Buffalo Peaks Wilderness (partly in San Isabel NF)
• Lost Creek Wilderness
• Mount Evans Wilderness (mostly in Arapaho NF)

See also

• United States Army Pike’s Peak Research Laboratory
• Devil's Head Lookout
• Culturally modified trees

External links

• Pike & San Isabel National Forests, Cimarron & Comanche National Grasslands from the US Forest Service website