Ashley National Forest

Welcome to Ashley National Forest, sprawled across northeastern Utah and southwest Wyoming! It's landscapes range in elevation from as low as 6,000 feet ASL to as high as 13,528 feet ASL at the top of King's Mountain.

Forest History: In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt established Ashley National Forest in order to ensure that the American people had access to timber, minerals, clean water, grazing materials, and recreation. Before the establishment of the Ashley National Forest this land saw it's fair share of trappers, explorers, settlers, and outlaws. The first known white men to set foot in the region were the Spanish explorers Dominquez and Escalante, who entered the Uintah Basin in 1776 while journeying from Santa Fe, New Mexico towards California. In 1822, a fur trader from St. Louis, Major Andrew Henry come to the region to do some trapping and headed back home with lots of pelts the next year. In 1825, General W.H. Ashley, for whom the forest is named, arrived on the banks of the Green River. On April 21, he and his men began floating down the river in boats made from wood and buffalo hides passing through canyons and walking around waterfalls. A passage from Ashley's diary on May 2 states "we entered between the walls of this range of mountains, which approach at this point to the waters edge on either side of the river and rise almost perpendicular to an immense height." General Ashley, was searching for a passage to the Gulf of Mexico for his fur business but was soon told by local tribe members that he was on the wrong side of the Continental Divide. In 1861, the land became part of a Native American reservation until Roosevelt established the Ashley National Forest in 1908.

Wildlife: Ashley National Forest helps protect the home of numerous wild critters including deer, mountain lions, squirrels, raccoons, and many others. Please treat their home with respect.

For the lover of the outdoors Ashley National Forest boasts over 1,000 miles of multipurpose trails, the spectacular Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, and so much more. Come on out and explore!