West Creek

Location:    Larimer County in Rocky Mountain National Park
Size:   9043 acres
Designated:    June 1983
Land Manager:    National Park Service

West Creek Natural Area includes part of West Creek and Fox Creek in the Big Thompson River Basin.  These creeks support high-quality examples of montane and lower subalpine riparian systems.  The plant communities occurring along the streams and their tributaries include elements of eastern deciduous forest communities found only in low-elevation Front Range riparian systems in Colorado. These species include balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera) and wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis). Logdepole and limber pine forests cover much of the site. The area also provides habitat for elk and bighorn sheep, as well as populations of the threatened greenback cutthroat trout (Onorhychus clarki stomias).