Wheeler Geologic Area

{{Short description|Volcanic geologic feature in Colorado, United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

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Image:A272, Wheeler Geologic Area, La Garita Wilderness, Colorado, USA, 2008.JPG

Image:COMap-doton-WheelerGA.png

The Wheeler Geologic Area is a highly eroded outcropping of layers of volcanic ash, located in the San Juan Mountains in southern Colorado, United States.{{Cite web |title=Wheeler Geological Area |url=https://www.southfork.org/wheeler-geological-area |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=www.southfork.org}} It is about 10 miles east north-east of Creede. The ash is the result of eruptions from the La Garita Caldera approximately 25 million years ago.{{Cite web |title=Wheeler Geologic Area |url=https://www.cmc.org/education-adventure/trips/routes-places/wheeler-geologic-area |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=CMC |language=en}}

On December 7, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt designated the area Wheeler National Monument, the first national monument in Colorado.{{Cite web |last=High |first=Laura |date=2020-08-25 |title="City of Gnomes" used to be one of Colorado’s busiest attractions. Now, it’s the perfect remote adventure. |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2020/08/25/colorado-wheeler-geologic-area-remote-adventure/ |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=The Denver Post |language=en-US}} The area's remote location made visitor visits difficult, and on August 3, 1950, President Harry Truman signed an act abolishing the national monument and creating the Wheeler Geologic Area of Rio Grande National Forest. The geologic area is now part of the La Garita Wilderness.{{Cite web |title=Wheeler Geologic Area |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/riogrande/recarea/?recid=29264 |access-date=February 23, 2024 |website=www.fs.usda.gov}} Lying just below the crest of the range at an elevation of 11,960 feet (3645 m), it can be reached by an 8.4-mile hike on the East Bellows Trail (FS790), or by a difficult 14 mile four-wheel drive road.

The formations are named after Captain George M. Wheeler, who explored and surveyed the area in 1874 for the U.S. Army.