Pole Creek Wilderness

Pole Creek Wilderness
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
Location	Owyhee County, Idaho, USA
Nearest city	Boise, Idaho
Coordinates	42°31′39″N 116°30′19″W
Area	12,533 acres (5,072 ha)
Established	2009
Governing body	Bureau of Land Management

The Pole Creek Wilderness is located on the high rhyolite and basalt plateaus of Owyhee County in southwestern Idaho in the western United States.^[1][2][3] Its whitewater rapids are a popular attraction.^[1]

Geography

The Pole Creek Wilderness has canyons over 800 feet (240 m) deep, and sagebrush and grassland plateaus. These canyons in Owyhee County have been called "the largest concentration of sheer-walled volcanic rhyolite and basalt canyons in the western United States".^[1][4] There are no designated trails.^[5]

Legislative history

The Pole Creek Wilderness was created by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. Also created in the Omnibus Land Act were five additional southwestern Idaho wilderness areas in Owyhee County, collectively known as the Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Areas:^[6][7]

• Big Jacks Creek Wilderness - 52,826 acres (21,378 ha)
• Bruneau – Jarbidge Rivers Wilderness - 89,996 acres (36,420 ha)
• Little Jacks Creek Wilderness - 50,929 acres (20,610 ha)
• North Fork Owyhee Wilderness - 43,413 acres (17,569 ha)
• Owyhee River Wilderness - 267,328 acres (108,184 ha)

The act of 2009 added 517,025 acres (209,233 ha) of wilderness within the state of Idaho.^[6][7]

Natural history

The Pole Creek Wilderness lies within the Owyhee Desert, part of the northern Basin and Range ecoregion, although hydrologically the wilderness area is within the Snake River – Columbia River drainage.^[1][8] The area is home to mule deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, sage grouse, hawks, eagles, falcons, songbirds and many rare plants.^[1][5]

See also

• List of largest wilderness areas in the United States
• List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
• Wilderness Act

References

1. "Pole Creek Wilderness - General". Wilderness.net. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
2. "Pole Creek Wilderness, Idaho". Public Lands. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
3. "Pole Creek Wilderness" (PDF). Bureau of Land Management. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
4. "Map of North Fork Owyhee and Pole Creek Wilderness" (PDF). Bureau of Land Management. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
5. "Weekend Trip to Pole Creek Wilderness". Treasure Valley Backpackers. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
6. "Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Areas". Bureau of Land Management. Archived from the original on October 24, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
7. "Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness". Idaho Public TV. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
8.  This article incorporates public domain material from McGrath, CL; Woods, AJ; Omernik, JM; et al. Ecoregions of Idaho (PDF). United States Geological Survey. (color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and photographs; with a Reverse side).

External links

• Owyhee Uplands Backcountry Byway - Bureau of Land Management