Pole Creek Wilderness

Geography

The Pole Creek Wilderness has canyons over 800 ft deep, and sagebrush and grassland plateaus. These canyons in Owyhee County have been called "the largest concentration of sheer-walled volcanic rhyolite and basalt canyons in the western United States". There are no designated trails.

Legislative history

The Pole Creek Wilderness was created by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. Also created in the Omnibus Land Act were five additional southwestern Idaho wilderness areas in Owyhee County, collectively known as the Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Areas:

• Big Jacks Creek Wilderness - 52826 acres
• Bruneau – Jarbidge Rivers Wilderness - 89996 acres
• Little Jacks Creek Wilderness - 50929 acres
• North Fork Owyhee Wilderness - 43413 acres
• Owyhee River Wilderness - 267328 acres

The act of 2009 added 517025 acres of wilderness within the state of Idaho.

Natural history

The Pole Creek Wilderness lies within the Owyhee Desert, part of the northern Basin and Range ecoregion, although hydrologically the wilderness area is within the Snake River – Columbia River drainage. The area is home to mule deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, sage grouse, hawks, eagles, falcons, songbirds and many rare plants.

References

References

1. "Ecoregions of Idaho".
2. "Map of North Fork Owyhee and Pole Creek Wilderness". Bureau of Land Management.
3. "Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness". Idaho Public TV.
4. "Pole Creek Wilderness - General". Wilderness.net.
5. "Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Areas". Bureau of Land Management.
6. "Pole Creek Wilderness, Idaho". Public Lands.
7. "Weekend Trip to Pole Creek Wilderness". Treasure Valley Backpackers.
8. "Pole Creek Wilderness". Bureau of Land Management.