Unit 551 is a Routt County subunit covering portions of the Park Range and the high country east of Steamboat Springs—the country between Steamboat and the Continental Divide on North Routt, including the Mount Zirkel Wilderness fringe. Elevations climb from about 7,000 feet in the Yampa River valley near Steamboat to over 12,000 feet on Mount Zirkel (12,180), Big Agnes Mountain, and the higher peaks of the Park Range crest. The terrain is dramatic high-country wilderness: aspen groves on the lower benches (the Routt aspen country in late September is electric-gold for weeks), lodgepole pine and Douglas fir on the mid-slopes (heavy beetle-kill complications in places—standing dead lodgepole is a real factor), dense subalpine spruce-fir and aspen pockets on the higher reaches, and alpine tundra with rocky cirques and high meadow systems above 11,500 feet. The Park Range gets some of Colorado's heaviest snowfall—500+ inches is normal in the high country—and the timber holds elk in deep, dark pockets that take legs and lungs to reach. Routt National Forest covers the high country with the Mount Zirkel Wilderness occupying the crest core (motorized prohibited—boots and horses only above the boundary). Significant private deeded ranchland covers the valley floor along the Elk River and Yampa. Forest roads from Clark, Steamboat Lake, and Hahn's Peak access the wilderness boundary; the Buffalo Pass road climbs east out of Steamboat over the divide. Steamboat Springs is full service at resort prices for everything—gas, food, lodging, processors, and gear. Cell service is good in Steamboat and gone in the wilderness. The Park Range elk hunting is genuinely productive but the country demands fitness and weather preparedness.