Sangre de Cristo Wilderness
| Sangre de Cristo Wilderness | |
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IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
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| Location | Colorado, United States |
| Coordinates | 37°59′18″N 105°36′20″W / 37.98833°N 105.60556°WCoordinates: 37°59′18″N 105°36′20″W / 37.98833°N 105.60556°W |
| Area | 220,803 acres (893.56 km2) |
| Established | 1993 |
| Governing body | U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service |
The Sangre de Cristo Wilderness is a long and narrow wilderness area covering 220,803 acres (893.56 km2) of the Sangre de Cristo Range centered about Saguache and Custer counties, Colorado. Smaller areas are located in Fremont, Alamosa, and Huerfano counties. All of the wilderness area is located on U.S. Forest Service land within the San Isabel and Rio Grande National Forests and Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. The wilderness area is home to several fourteeners and quite a few thirteeners. Crestone Needle is considered the most difficult.
This wilderness is home to black bears, mountain lions, elk, and bighorn sheep. Forested areas consist predominantly of spruce and aspen.
The Peaks had traditional and religious significance to the region's early Spanish settlers, hence the name, which means "Blood of Christ".
The faulted and uplifted mountains of the Sangre de Cristo are geologically distinct from the Spanish Peaks range to the east.
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