High Uintas Wilderness

The High Uintas Wilderness /juːˈɪntəz/ is a wilderness area located in northeastern Utah, United States. The wilderness covers the Uinta Mountains, encompassing parts of Duchesne and Summit counties. Designated as a wilderness in 1984, the area is located within parts of Ashley National Forest and Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The highest peak in Utah, Kings Peak, lies within the wilderness area along with some of Utah's highest peaks, particularly those over 13,000 feet (4,000 meters).

High Uintas Wilderness
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)[1]
Naturalist Basin, in the High Uintas Wilderness
Location in Utah Show map of Utah Location in United States Show map of the United States
Location	Duchesne / Summit counties, Utah, USA
Nearest city	Kamas, Utah
Coordinates	40.7382776°N 110.4968294°W / 40.7382776; -110.4968294[2]
Area	456,705 acres (1,848 km2)[3]
Established	September 18, 1984
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service

Mirror Lake Highway is closed in the winter, usually opening annually near Memorial Day. Winter access is allowed for snowmobiling (though snowmobiling is not allowed within the Wilderness Area), cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.

Summit ridge, High Uintas. Note series of glacial cirques gnawed into the ridge.

In popular culture

Despite being filmed in Canada, the area is specifically referred to in, and the setting for most of, the 2017 film The Mountain Between Us.

Climate

There is a SNOTEL weather station near Brown Duck Lake, in the southeast of the High Uintas Wilderness. Brown Duck has a subalpine climate (Köppen Dfc).

Climate data for Brown Duck, Utah, 1991–2020 normals, 1986-2020 extremes: 10600ft (3231m)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	56 (13)	67 (19)	74 (23)	70 (21)	73 (23)	78 (26)	83 (28)	86 (30)	79 (26)	69 (21)	63 (17)	51 (11)	86 (30)
Mean maximum °F (°C)	46.7 (8.2)	47.9 (8.8)	54.9 (12.7)	59.6 (15.3)	64.8 (18.2)	70.7 (21.5)	76.7 (24.8)	74.0 (23.3)	68.9 (20.5)	60.2 (15.7)	52.4 (11.3)	44.2 (6.8)	77.4 (25.2)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C)	30.4 (−0.9)	33.3 (0.7)	40.9 (4.9)	45.8 (7.7)	52.6 (11.4)	60.6 (15.9)	68.0 (20.0)	65.8 (18.8)	57.6 (14.2)	47.0 (8.3)	36.3 (2.4)	28.5 (−1.9)	47.2 (8.5)
Daily mean °F (°C)	19.1 (−7.2)	20.1 (−6.6)	26.3 (−3.2)	31.3 (−0.4)	39.5 (4.2)	46.4 (8.0)	55.3 (12.9)	53.5 (11.9)	46.0 (7.8)	35.8 (2.1)	25.2 (−3.8)	18.0 (−7.8)	34.7 (1.5)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C)	7.9 (−13.4)	7.0 (−13.9)	11.8 (−11.2)	16.8 (−8.4)	26.4 (−3.1)	35.4 (1.9)	42.5 (5.8)	41.1 (5.1)	34.2 (1.2)	24.6 (−4.1)	14.0 (−10.0)	7.6 (−13.6)	22.4 (−5.3)
Mean minimum °F (°C)	−10.5 (−23.6)	−10.7 (−23.7)	−5.0 (−20.6)	0.3 (−17.6)	11.5 (−11.4)	23.7 (−4.6)	35.0 (1.7)	33.5 (0.8)	21.8 (−5.7)	7.6 (−13.6)	−5.6 (−20.9)	−11.1 (−23.9)	−16.2 (−26.8)
Record low °F (°C)	−20 (−29)	−29 (−34)	−14 (−26)	−13 (−25)	−1 (−18)	15 (−9)	26 (−3)	24 (−4)	6 (−14)	−11 (−24)	−21 (−29)	−27 (−33)	−29 (−34)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	3.29 (84)	3.33 (85)	3.02 (77)	3.37 (86)	2.75 (70)	1.53 (39)	1.97 (50)	2.32 (59)	2.79 (71)	3.07 (78)	2.63 (67)	3.21 (82)	33.28 (848)
Source 1: XMACIS2[4]
Source 2: NOAA (Precipitation)[5]

See also

• Ashley National Forest
• Uinta Highline Trail
• List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
• National Wilderness Preservation System
• Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest
• Wilderness Act