Welcome Creek Wilderness

Welcome Creek Wilderness
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)

Location	Granite County, Montana, United States
Nearest city	Missoula, MT
Coordinates	46°36′N 113°31′W / 46.600°N 113.517°W / 46.600; -113.517Coordinates: 46°36′N 113°31′W / 46.600°N 113.517°W / 46.600; -113.517
Area	28,135 acres (113 km²)
Established	1978
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service

The Welcome Creek Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of Montana. Created by an act of Congress in 1978, the wilderness is within Lolo National Forest, and protects the northern portion of the Sapphire Mountains.

U.S. Wilderness Areas do not allow motorized or mechanized vehicles, including bicycles. Although camping and fishing are allowed with proper permit, no roads or buildings are constructed and there is also no logging or mining, in compliance with the 1964 Wilderness Act. Wilderness areas within National Forests and Bureau of Land Management areas also allow hunting in season.

The Wilderness, which preserves a chunk of generally lower-elevation forest, is characterized by rough, steep breaks and slopes covered in dense forests of lodgepole pine.^[1] Some old-growth lodgepole pine is present, as are groves of spruce and douglas-fir.^[1] Wildlife includes elk, mountain lion, bobcat, pine marten, mink and weasel.^[1]

Lodgepole pine forest in Welcome Creek Wilderness

The area has a rich human history as well, as gold was discovered in Welcome Creek in 1888.^[1] One of the largest gold nuggets ever found in Montana, weighing in at 1.5 pounds, was found in Welcome Creek during this period.^[1] When the mines were abandoned, the area became a hideout for fugitives like outlaw Frank Brady, who was killed in a 1904 shootout at a cabin in Welcome Creek.^[1] Today, the crumbling remains of about a dozen miner's cabins dot the Wilderness, though only two are in fair condition, one of them at the mouth of Cinnabar Creek.^[1]

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cunningham, Bill (1995). Wild Montana. Helena, MT: Falcon Publishing, Inc. pp. 93,95. ISBN 1-56044-393-6.

External links

"Welcome Creek Wilderness". The National Wilderness Preservation System. Wilderness.net. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
"USGS Spink Point (MT) Topo Map Quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
"Wilderness Legislation: The Wilderness Act of 1964". The National Wilderness Preservation System. Wilderness.net. Retrieved 2006-08-15.

Protected areas of Montana

Federal

National Parks	Glacier Yellowstone

National Monuments	Little Bighorn Battlefield Pompeys Pillar (BLM) Upper Missouri River Breaks (BLM)

National Battlefield	Big Hole

National Historical Parks & Historic Sites	Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS Nez Perce NHP

National Historic & Scenic Trails	Lewis and Clark NHT Nez Perce NHT Continental Divide NST Pacific Northwest NST

National Recreation Area	Bighorn Canyon

National Wildlife Refuges	Benton Lake Black Coulee Bowdoin Charles M. Russell Creedman Coulee Hailstone Halfbreed Lake Hewitt Lake Lake Mason Lake Thibadeau Lamesteer Lee Metcalf Lost Trail Medicine Lake National Bison Range Ninepipe Pablo Red Rock Lakes Swan River UL Bend War Horse

National Forests	Beaverhead Bitterroot Custer Flathead Gallatin Helena Kootenai Lewis and Clark Lolo

National Wilderness	Absaroka-Beartooth Anaconda-Pintler Bear Trap Canyon Bob Marshall Cabinet Mountains Gates of the Mountains Great Bear Lee Metcalf Medicine Lake Mission Mountains Rattlesnake Red Rock Lakes Scapegoat Selway-Bitterroot UL Bend Welcome Creek

National Wild & Scenic Rivers	Flathead Missouri

State

State Parks	Ackley Lake Anaconda Smoke Stack Bannack Beaverhead Rock Beavertail Hill Big Arm Black Sandy Brush Lake Camp Baker Chief Plenty Coups Clark's Lookout Cooney Council Grove Eden Bridge Elkhorn Finley First Peoples Buffalo Jump Fort Owen Frenchtown Pond Giant Springs Granite Ghost Town Greycliff Prairie Dog Town Hell Creek Lake Elmo Lake Mary Ronan Lewis and Clark Logan Lone Pine Lost Creek Madison Buffalo Jump Makoshika Medicine Rocks Missouri Headwaters Painted Rocks Parker Homestead Pictograph Cave Pirogue Island Placid Lake Rosebud Battlefield Salmon Lake Sluice Boxes Smith River Spring Meadow Lake Thompson Falls Tongue River Reservoir Tower Rock Travelers' Rest Wayfarers West Shore Whitefish Lake Wild Horse Island Yellow Bay

State Forests	Clearwater Coal Creek Lincoln Lubrecht Experimental Forest Stillwater Sula Swan River Thompson River

Wildlife Management Areas	Amelia Island Aunt Molly Badlands Beartooth Beckman Big Lake Blackfoot-Clearwater Blackleaf Blue Eyed Nellie Bowdoin Buffalo Head Park Bull River Calf Creek Canyon Creek Canyon Ferry Dodson Creek Dodson Dam Dome Mountain Ear Mountain Elk Island F Island Flathead Lake Flathead River Fleecer Mountain Fox Lake Freezout Lake Fresno Reservoir Fresno Tailwater Gallatin Garrity Mountain Grant Marsh Gravelly-Blacktail Haymaker Hinsdale Horseshoe Lake Howard Valley Isaac Homestead Judith River Kootenai/Falls Kootenai/West Kootenai/Woods Ranch Lake Helena Lost Creek Lower Stillwater Lake Madison-Bear Creek Madison-Wall Creek Milk River Mount Haggin Mount Jumbo Mount Silcox Nevada Lake Ninepipe North Swan Valley CE Pablo Ray Kuhns Robb-Ledford Rookery Roundhom Sanders Seven Sisters Silver Gate Silver Run Smith River Sun River Swan Lake Thompson-Fisher CE Three Mile Threemile Vandalia War Dance Island Warm Springs

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