Grand Mesa National Forest

U.S. National Forest in Colorado

39°04′00″N 107°53′00″W / 39.0668°N 107.8834°W / 39.0668; -107.8834Area346,555 acres (1,402.46 km²)EstablishedDecember 24, 1892Governing bodyU.S. Forest ServiceWebsiteGrand Mesa National Forest

The Grand Mesa National Forest is a U.S. National Forest in Mesa, Delta and Garfield Counties in Western Colorado. It borders the White River National Forest to the north and the Gunnison National Forest to the east. The forest covers most of Grand Mesa and the south part of Battlement Mesa. It has a total area of 346,555 acres (541.49 sq mi, or 1,402.46 km²).^[1] It is managed by the United States Forest Service together with Gunnison National Forest and Uncompahgre National Forest from offices in Delta, Colorado. There are local ranger district offices located in Grand Junction.

Animals that inhabit this forest are elk, mule deer, Canadian lynx, black bears, pine marten, cougars, and bighorn sheep. Birdwatchers get a seasonal opportunity to view species of bird such bald eagles, boreal owls, golden eagles, Mexican spotted owls, common ravens, wild turkeys and peregrine falcons.

Originally called Battlement Mesa Forest Reserve, created by Benjamin Harrison on December 24, 1892, it was the third forest reserve created in United States. It is the largest flat top mountain in the world.

Climate

Park Reservoir is a SNOTEL weather station on the Grand Mesa, located near Leon Peak (Colorado).

Climate data for Park Reservoir, Colorado, 1991–2020 normals: 9960ft (3036m)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °F (°C)	29.9 (−1.2)	31.9 (−0.1)	40.0 (4.4)	45.4 (7.4)	53.9 (12.2)	63.2 (17.3)	68.7 (20.4)	66.2 (19.0)	58.5 (14.7)	48.6 (9.2)	36.9 (2.7)	29.1 (−1.6)	47.7 (8.7)
Daily mean °F (°C)	16.8 (−8.4)	18.5 (−7.5)	25.4 (−3.7)	31.9 (−0.1)	40.6 (4.8)	49.4 (9.7)	55.5 (13.1)	53.8 (12.1)	46.3 (7.9)	36.7 (2.6)	24.8 (−4.0)	16.5 (−8.6)	34.7 (1.5)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C)	3.7 (−15.7)	5.0 (−15.0)	10.8 (−11.8)	18.1 (−7.7)	27.1 (−2.7)	35.5 (1.9)	42.3 (5.7)	41.2 (5.1)	34.5 (1.4)	25.1 (−3.8)	12.5 (−10.8)	4.1 (−15.5)	21.7 (−5.7)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	4.60 (117)	4.59 (117)	4.09 (104)	3.80 (97)	2.69 (68)	1.30 (33)	1.92 (49)	2.38 (60)	3.02 (77)	3.76 (96)	3.76 (96)	4.64 (118)	40.55 (1,032)
Average snowfall inches (cm)	69.6 (177)	45.5 (116)	65.2 (166)	36.8 (93)	24.3 (62)	1.2 (3.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	6.3 (16)	16.7 (42)	45.2 (115)	60.1 (153)	370.9 (943)
Source 1: XMACIS2 (Park RSVR normals & Cedaredge 10.5 snowfall)^[2]
Source 2: NOAA (Precipitation)^[3]

References

^ Table 6 - NFS Acreage by State, Congressional District and County - United States Forest Service - September 30, 2007
^ "xmACIS2". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
^ "Park Reservoir, Colorado 1991-2020 Monthly Normals". Retrieved December 9, 2023.

External links

Grand Mesa National Forest at Wikipedia's sister projects

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Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests (USDA Forest Service)

State of Colorado

Denver (capital)

Society

Colorado portal

Protected areas of Colorado

Federal

4 National Parks	Black Canyon of the Gunnison Great Sand Dunes Mesa Verde Rocky Mountain
9 National Monuments	Browns Canyon (BLM-USFS) Camp Hale-Continental Divide (USFS) Canyons of the Ancients (BLM) Chimney Rock (USFS) Colorado Dinosaur Florissant Fossil Beds Hovenweep Yucca House
3 National Historic Sites	Amache Bent's Old Fort Sand Creek Massacre
2 National Recreation Areas	Arapaho (USFS) Curecanti
1 Wild and Scenic River	Cache la Poudre River
4 National Historic Trails	California Trail Old Spanish Trail Pony Express Trail Santa Fe Trail
1 National Scenic Trail	Continental Divide Trail
11 National Forests	Arapaho Grand Mesa Gunnison Medicine Bow–Routt Pike Rio Grande Roosevelt San Isabel San Juan Uncompahgre White River
2 National Grasslands	Comanche Pawnee
44 National Wildernesses	Black Canyon of the Gunnison Black Ridge Canyons Buffalo Peaks Byers Peak Cache La Poudre Collegiate Peaks Comanche Peak Dominguez Canyon Eagles Nest Flat Tops Fossil Ridge Great Sand Dunes Greenhorn Mountain Gunnison Gorge Hermosa Creek Holy Cross Hunter–Fryingpan Indian Peaks James Peak La Garita Lizard Head Lost Creek Maroon Bells-Snowmass Mesa Verde Mount Evans Mount Massive Mount Sneffels Mount Zirkel Neota Never Summer Platte River Powderhorn Ptarmigan Peak Raggeds Rawah Rocky Mountain National Park Sangre de Cristo Sarvis Creek South San Juan Spanish Peaks Uncompahgre Vasquez Peak Weminuche West Elk
3 National Conservation Areas	Dominguez–Escalante Gunnison Gorge McInnis Canyons
8 National Wildlife Refuges	Alamosa Arapaho Baca Browns Park Monte Vista Rocky Flats Rocky Mountain Arsenal Two Ponds
3 National Heritage Areas	Cache la Poudre River Corridor Sangre de Cristo South Park
28 National Historic Landmarks	Beaver Meadows Visitor Center Bent's Old Fort Central City/Black Hawk Historic District Colorado Chautauqua Cripple Creek Historic District Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad Denver Civic Center Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Elitch Gardens Carousel Georgetown–Silver Plume Historic District Granada War Relocation Center Leadville Historic District Lindenmeier site Lowry Pueblo Ludlow Tent Colony Site Mesa Verde Administrative District Minnequa Steel Works Pikes Peak Pike's Stockade Raton Pass Red Rocks Park Shenandoah-Dives Mill Silverton Historic District Telluride Historic District Temple Aaron Trujillo Homesteads United States Air Force Academy, Cadet Area Winks Panorama
16 National Natural Landmarks	Big Spring Creek Garden of the Gods Garden Park Fossil Area Hanging Lake Indian Springs Trace Fossil Natural Area Lost Creek Scenic Area Morrison-Golden Fossil Areas Raton Mesa Roxborough Russell Lakes Sand Creek Slumgullion Earthflow Spanish Peaks Sulphur Cave and Spring Summit Lake West Bijou Site
National Register of Historic Places	National Register of Historic Places listings in Colorado

State

43 State Parks	Arkansas Headwaters Barr Lake Boyd Lake Castlewood Canyon Chatfield Cherry Creek Cheyenne Mountain Crawford Eldorado Canyon Eleven Mile Elkhead Fishers Peak Golden Gate Canyon Harvey Gap Highline Lake Jackson Lake James M. Robb - Colorado River John Martin Reservoir Lake Pueblo Lathrop Lone Mesa Lory Mancos Mueller Navajo North Sterling Paonia Pearl Lake Ridgway Rifle Falls Rifle Gap Roxborough Spinney Mountain St. Vrain Stagecoach State Forest Staunton Steamboat Lake Sweetwater Lake Sweitzer Lake Sylvan Lake Trinidad Lake Vega Yampa River
1 State Forest	State Forest
307 State Wildlife Areas	List of Colorado state wildlife areas
96 State Natural Areas	Aiken Canyon Antero-Salt Creek Arikaree River Badger Wash Blacks Gulch Blue Mountain-Little Thompson Fault Bonny Prairie Boulder Mountain Park Brush Creek Fen California Park Castlewood Canyon Chalk Bluffs Coal Creek Tallgrass Prairie Colorado Tallgrass Prairie Comanche Grassland Copeland Willow Carr Corral Bluffs Cross Mountain Canyon Dakota Hogback Deer Gulch Dome Rock Droney Gulch Duck Creek Dudley Bluffs East Lost Park East Sand Dunes Elephant Rocks Escalante Canyon Fairview Fourmile Creek Fruita Paleontological Garden Park Fossil Gateway Palisade Geneva Basin Iron Fens Gothic Gunnison Gravels Haviland Lake High Creek Fen High Mesa Grassland Hoosier Ridge Hurricane Canyon Indian Spring Indian Springs Trace Fossil Irish Canyon Jimmy Creek Ken-Caryl Ranch Kremmling Cretaceous Ammonite Limestone Ridge Lookout Mountain Lower Greasewood Creek McElmo Mexican Cut Mini-Wheeler Miramonte Reservoir Mishak Lakes Mount Callahan & Logan Wash Mine Mount Emmons Iron Bog Mount Goliath Narraguinnep Needle Rock North Park Phacelia Orient Mine Owl Canyon Pagosa Skyrocket Paradise Park Park Creek Hogback Pyramid Rock Rabbit Valley Rajadero Canyon Raven Ridge Redcloud Peak Rough Canyon Roxborough Ryan Gulch Saddle Mountain San Miguel River Sand Creek Shell Duck Creek Shell Rock Slumgullion Earthflow South Beaver Creek South Boulder Creek South Cathedral Bluffs Specimen Mountain Staunton Tamarack Ranch Treasurevault Mountain Trinidad K-T Boundary Two Buttes Unaweep Seep Wacker Ranch West Creek Wheeler Geologic White Rocks Yanks Gulch/Upper Greasewood Creek Natural Area Zapata Falls
26 Scenic and Historic Byways	Alpine Loop Cache la Poudre-North Park Collegiate Peaks Colorado River Headwaters Dinosaur Diamond Flat Tops Trail Frontier Pathways Gold Belt Tour Grand Mesa Guanella Pass Highway of Legends Lariat Loop Los Caminos Antiguos Mount Evans Pawnee Pioneer Trails Peak to Peak San Juan Skyway Santa Fe Trail Silver Thread South Platte River Trail Top of the Rockies Tracks Across Borders Trail of the Ancients Trail Ridge Road/Beaver Meadow Unaweep Tabeguache West Elk Loop

Trails

28 National Recreation Trails

Apex
Barr
Bear Creek
Big Dry Creek
Calico
Crag Crest
Devils Head
Fish Creek Falls
Grays Peak
Greyrock Mountain
High Line Canal
Highline Loop
Lake Fork
Mineral Belt
Mount Evans
Mount McConnel
Petroglyph Point
Platte River Greenway
Poudre River
Rocky Mountain Arsenal
Round Mountain
Swamp Park
Two Elk
Two Ponds
Vail Pass
West Lost Trail Creek
Wheeler Ten Mile
White House Ranch

6 Regional Trails

Colorado Department of Natural Resources

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Allegheny Angeles Angelina Apache–Sitgreaves Apalachicola Arapaho Ashley Beaverhead–Deerlodge Bienville Bighorn Bitterroot Black Hills Boise Bridger–Teton Caribou–Targhee Carson Chattahoochee–Oconee Chequamegon–Nicolet Cherokee Chippewa Choctawhatchee Chugach Cibola Clearwater Cleveland Coconino Coeur d'Alene Colville Conecuh Coronado Croatan Custer Daniel Boone Davy Crockett De Soto Delta Deschutes Dixie Eldorado Finger Lakes Fishlake Flathead Francis Marion Fremont–Winema Gallatin George Washington and Jefferson Gifford Pinchot Gila Grand Mesa Green Mountain Gunnison Helena Hiawatha Holly Springs Homochitto Hoosier Humboldt–Toiyabe Huron–Manistee Idaho Panhandle Inyo Kaibab Kaniksu Kisatchie Klamath Kootenai Lake Tahoe Basin Lassen Lewis and Clark Lincoln Lolo Los Padres Malheur Manti–La Sal Mark Twain Medicine Bow–Routt Mendocino Modoc Monongahela Mount Baker–Snoqualmie Mount Hood Nantahala Nebraska Nez Perce Ocala Ochoco Okanogan–Wenatchee Olympic Osceola Ottawa Ouachita Ozark–St. Francis Payette Pike Pisgah Plumas Prescott Rio Grande Rogue River–Siskiyou Roosevelt Sabine Salmon–Challis Sam Houston Samuel R. McKelvie San Bernardino San Isabel San Juan Santa Fe Sawtooth Sequoia Shasta–Trinity Shawnee Shoshone Sierra Siuslaw Six Rivers St. Joe Stanislaus Sumter Superior Tahoe Talladega Tombigbee Tongass Tonto Tuskegee Uinta Umatilla Umpqua Uncompahgre Uwharrie Wallowa–Whitman Wasatch–Cache Wayne Wenatchee White Mountain White River Willamette William B. Bankhead
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National Forests of the United States