A popular historic site, Garnet Ghost Town, is in the Garnet Range. Situated on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, the ghost town is the remnant of a mining settlement that was inhabited from the late 1800s to the 1930s.[2] The town's population reached several thousand during its peak.[2] A visitor center and self-guided tours are available.[2]
Although heavily forested, no portion of the Garnet Range is part of the National Forest system. The BLM owns much of the range, including the 11,580-acre Wales Creek Wilderness Study Area.[3] The Wales Creek WSA is the last major drainage area without a road in the western Garnets, and features dense forests of lodgepole pine, spruce, Douglas fir, larch, aspen, and subalpine fir.[4] Wales Creek WSA also hosts a thriving moose herd, goshawk nesting sites, a native cutthroat trout fishery, and four hot springs used in the past by miners and now by skiers and hunters.[4]
Another BLM Wilderness Study Area is in the eastern Garnets: the 11,380-acre Hoodoo Mountain WSA. This WSA is separated from unprotected BLM land in the Gallagher Creek drainage by a dirt road. Petrified wood is found along streams in the Gallagher Creek area.[4]
On the southern slope of the Garnets near the town of Drummond, the BLM's Rattler Gulch Area of Critical Environmental Concern protects 20 acres of exposed Madison Group limestone cliffs.[5] Parking is provided, as Rattler Gulch is a popular rock-climbing area.[6]
Grizzly bears have recently been confirmed inhabiting the Garnets.[7]
