Plants of Lone Mesa State Park

Lone Mesa State Park encompasses approximately 11,700 acres in Dolores County, Colorado. The elevations of the park range from about 7,600 feet at lower Plateau Creek to 9,200 feet on Lone Mesa itself. Lone Mesa, a large mesa that towers almost 1000 feet above the surrounding areas, is a well known landmark in the region. The mesa and the surrounding rim provide important wildlife habitat in the area, since many species use this area for cover, bedding, and travel. The perennial Plateau Creek runs through the middle of the park in a north-south direction with many other small creeks in valley bottoms and deep ravines feeding into it. These waterways serve as important wetland habitats within the park’s shrublands and woodlands. This combination of the elevation gradient and variety of terrain has resulted in an impressive distribution of vegetation types and wildlife habitat in the park. Interspersed within the oak and aspen covered mesas are steep, conifer-covered hillsides, narrow riparian forests, and wet meadows. Below the mesas are intermingled ponderosa pine woodlands, sagebrush shrublands, and shale badlands. less ↑