Known for 30,358-acre Bosque del Oso State Wildlife Area, this unit borders New Mexico and is only 12% public land. Elk, mule deer and black bears thrive. Because Bosque del Oso has a reputation for producing big elk.

Fine trophy elk hunting takes place here. Frequently the site of television hunting shows, some of the large private ranches produce large bulls every year with some of the big ranches managed under Ranching for Wildlife. The private ranches will be costly. Food should be stored in bear proof containers inside locked vehicles.

The Culebra Range, a southern extension of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, form the western boundary—a spectacular backdrop of peaks from 12,000 to more than 14,000 feet above sea level. The South Fork of Purgatoire River starts near 14,049-foot Culebra Peak and carves the landscape with many canyons draining into it.

Bosque del Oso, meaning Forest of the Bear, is a state wildlife area that is composed of heavily timbered ridges and canyons, many of them beginning in the Ute Hills in the east and gradually descending toward the west. A few thousand acres of the state wildlife area is on the south side of the Purgatoire River. The west side of the Ute Hills are on private land, plummeting steeply down to meadows in South Valley.

Private ranches here are similar to the state wildlife area but feature many more flat places and some open terrain, some of it because forest fires have destroyed timber. No outfitters are licensed to operate in this part of the unit, but state wildlife officers are sometimes helpful in providing useful information about hunting in Bosque del Oso.

Except for Bosque del Oso State Wildlife Area, this unit is almost entirely private and is served by private and public roads. Some of the large ranches are managed under the state’s Ranching for Wildlife system, which allows a small number of residents to hunt at no charge on private properties. Other ranches also charge hunting fees but are not in the Ranching for Wildlife system, so guests—even paying customers—must draw tags to hunt. Bosque del Oso is about 25 miles west of Trinidad on Highway 12, where signs between Weston and Stonewall guide visitors to the property, which is south of the highway.

The state wildlife area has many restrictions on where you may park, camp and drive. Trucks associated with a methane mining operation heavily travel on gravel roads, but hunters may not use the road networks to reach areas to hunt. You must hike or ride a horse to reach most hunting areas inside Bosque del Oso.

Hunting access is highly controlled for two reasons, the state manages the property to provide quality hunting opportunities on the land, which the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation helped the state to acquire, and Basin Resources, the company that sold the land, retained the mineral rights and maintains many methane wells there.

Cottonwoods grow along some creek bottoms. Grasses, scrub oak, sagebrush, pinyons and junipers cover the rolling foothills, blending into oak brush, ponderosa pines, spruces and aspens in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where there are many alpine meadows.

Trinidad has motels, a hospital, gas stations, restaurants and shopping centers. You can buy gasoline in Stonewall. Camping is permitted in specific sites at Bosque del Oso State Wildlife Area and Trinidad Lake State Park