Unit 500 covers the Sawatch Range country around Buena Vista in central Chaffee County—the eastern flank of the Collegiate Peaks with elevations from about 7,500 feet in the Arkansas River valley to over 14,000 feet on Mount Princeton (14,196), Mount Yale (14,196), Mount Columbia (14,073), and Mount Harvard (14,420)—four fourteeners side by side that gave the Collegiate Peaks their name. The terrain layers from sagebrush and ponderosa pine on the lower benches, through aspen groves and Douglas fir on the mid-slopes (the Cottonwood Pass aspen country is some of the most photogenic in Colorado in late September), into dense subalpine spruce-fir on the higher reaches, and alpine tundra above 11,500 feet treeline with rocky cirques and scree slopes. The Arkansas River corridor and the broad valley floor are heavily developed for recreation—rafting, ranching, summer-tourist culture. Elk and mule deer hold the timbered benches and high meadows; bighorn sheep work the high crags; black bear is good in the aspen-and-oak. San Isabel National Forest covers the high country with the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness occupying the crest core (motorized prohibited). US-24 runs north-south through Buena Vista in the Arkansas valley; Cottonwood Pass Road (CR-306) climbs west over the divide to Taylor Park (closes seasonally with first significant snow); FS roads branch off US-24 into the timber. Buena Vista is a real working town for fuel, food, lodging, processors, and gear; Salida south is similar and bigger. Cell service is reliable in the valley and gone in the wilderness. Pressure is moderate to heavy due to the accessibility; hunters who pack in still find quality.