Unit 561 is a Routt and Jackson County subunit covering Park Range country north of Steamboat Springs—the high timber-and-meadow country between the Yampa drainage and the North Park basin, with the Mount Zirkel Wilderness covering significant chunks of the high country. Elevations climb from about 7,500 feet in the lower Elk River valley to 12,000 feet on the higher Park Range ridges and Mount Zirkel itself. The terrain is classic Park Range high country: aspen groves on the lower benches, lodgepole pine and Douglas fir on the mid-slopes (significant beetle-kill complications in stalking and pack-outs), dense subalpine spruce-fir on the higher reaches, and alpine tundra with rocky cirques and high meadow systems above 11,500 feet treeline. The Park Range gets enormous snowfall—the dense spruce-fir holds elk in pockets that get genuinely difficult to penetrate. The Encampment River drainage and the Roaring Fork (different river than the Aspen one) cut north through the unit toward Wyoming. Moose have been increasing in the willow bottoms; black bear is excellent in the aspen-and-berry country. Routt and Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests cover the high country with the Mount Zirkel Wilderness occupying the crest core (motorized prohibited). Buffalo Pass Road climbs east out of Steamboat over the divide; Seedhouse Road accesses the Mount Zirkel trailheads from Clark; the Hahn's Peak / Steamboat Lake road provides northern access. Steamboat Springs is full service; Walden in North Park is the eastern access town with gas, motels, and a small grocery. Cell service is poor across most of the unit. The wilderness pack-out is brutal classic Park Range work in heavy timber. Late October weather can dump significant snow that closes the high country fast.