Log in Get started

Colorado GMU 48 elk: terrain, access and seasons

Unit 48's terrain, access, seasons and CPW elk figures, with Conditions rebuilt nightly.

By Bryson, co-founder Updated

2026 season

Second rifle Oct 24–Nov 1

Every section below follows this season.

Decide

The season's licenses, draw results and harvest figures.

At a glance

Second rifle runs Oct 24–Nov 1, 2026; CPW's 2024 harvest survey put success at 22% for 62 hunters.

Size
300 sq mi
CPW unit boundary, 2025
Counties
Lake, Chaffee
Elevation
8,800–14,430 ft
USGS 3DEP, 2026-10-19
Huntable public land
89%
COMaP, 2026-10-12
Second rifle license, 2026
Draw bull, cow
CPW 2026 big game brochure
Success
22%
CPW harvest survey, 2024
Hunters
62
CPW harvest survey, 2024
Hunter-days per sq mi
0.8
CPW, 2024
Road miles, any vehicle
149 mi
MVUM + CDOT, open on the Oct 24 opener
Median Habitat Score
2.8 of 5
Ranks 12th of 128 for second rifle. Glassline, v20, 2026-10-19
Snow now
1 in
Deepest at Brumley SNOTEL, 2026-10-20

In short

A high-country, half-open draw-only unit with more far-from-road ground than most units. Most of Unit 48 sits between 9,000 and 12,000 feet, with more conifer than anything else and rock and scree next, then alpine grass. About nine-tenths of the unit is huntable public land, and just under a third of that ground is more than an hour and a half on foot from a drivable road. CPW's survey counted 339 hunters across all seasons in 2024, down from 348 in 2022, while second rifle success fell from 39% to 22%. Every license here is drawn.

Licenses and draw

Second rifle in Unit 48, 2026: a draw bull license (E-M-048-O2-R) and a draw cow license (E-F-048-O2-R).

  • E-M-048-O2-R bull, draw 2026 draw: residents drawn out at 2 points; nonresidents drawn out at 4 points
  • E-F-048-O2-R cow, draw 2026 draw: drawn out at 1 point for residents and nonresidents

CPW 2026 big game brochure; CPW primary-draw recap and drawn-out-at reports, 2024–2026, adult licenses. Every year of draw results is under Hunt codes and draw results.

Plan

The map, Conditions, access, hunt codes and draw results for the season, and what the research says.

Map

The interactive map (public land by manager, roads by vehicle class, burns, trailheads, SNOTEL stations, terrain and CPW's mapped ranges) needs JavaScript. The outline shows where Unit 48 sits among its neighbors.

49 471 47 481 45 48

Public data only. The plan lives in the app. Map sources

Conditions

As of Oct 21: 1 in of snow at Brumley SNOTEL, the deepest reading near the unit; exceptional drought (D4) on the US Drought Monitor over 100% of the unit; 1 active fire.

Rebuilt nightly; sources at the end of the page.

Item Value Data
Snow (SNOTEL) Brumley (10,570 ft): 1 in deep, SWE 0 inIndependence Pass (10,570 ft, 1.5 mi out): 0 in deep, SWE 0.1 inIvanhoe (10,540 ft, 2.4 mi out): 0 in deep, SWE 0.2 inNast Lake (8,710 ft, 5.6 mi out): 0 in deep, SWE 0 inFremont Pass (11,310 ft, 5.9 mi out): 1 in deep, SWE 0.1 in 2026-10-20 2026-10-20
Drought D4, Exceptional droughtShare of the unit: D0 or worse 100% · D1 or worse 100% · D2 or worse 100% · D3 or worse 100% · D4 100% USDM 2026-10-13 USDM 2026-10-13
Greenness vs normal, Sep 14–29 101% of the September normal (2014–2023), MODIS 16-day composite 2026-09-29 2026-09-29
Active fires Willow Fire: 7,480 ac in the unit, 92% contained 2026-10-21 2026-10-21

7-day forecast

NWS 7-day gridpoint forecast for 8,000–9,000 ft and 10,000–11,000 ft, issued Oct 21; the second rifle opener, Oct 24, is marked, and the front is shaded.

8,000–9,000 ft NWS PUB gridpoint 39,104, issued 2026-10-21. Gusts and lows: gridpoint only. Front Sat 10/24: PUB: cold front Saturday (discussion of 10/21).
Wed 10/21 Thu 10/22 Fri 10/23 Sat 10/24 Front Opener Sun 10/25 Mon 10/26 Tue 10/27
High / low 53° 31°51° 39°51° 36°45° 31°45° 32°47° 29°48° 27°
Precip 0 in0.3 in0.1 in0.3 in0.1 in0 in0 in
Snow 0 in0 in0 in0.2 in0.2 in0 in0 in
Gusts 15 mph14 mph25 mph18 mph14 mph13 mph16 mph
10,000–11,000 ft NWS PUB gridpoint 35,110, issued 2026-10-21. Gusts and lows: gridpoint only. Front Sat 10/24: PUB: cold front Saturday (discussion of 10/21).
Wed 10/21 Thu 10/22 Fri 10/23 Sat 10/24 Front Opener Sun 10/25 Mon 10/26 Tue 10/27
High / low 53° 27°50° 41°49° 32°44° 31°43° 32°44° 30°45° 27°
Precip 0 in0.3 in0.1 in0.3 in0.1 in0 in0 in
Snow 0 in0 in0 in0.8 in0.4 in0 in0 in
Gusts 15 mph18 mph29 mph20 mph15 mph12 mph15 mph

Access

Unit 48 has 26 trailheads and about 149 miles of road any vehicle may drive on the second rifle opener, plus 71 more that need high clearance. About a third of the huntable public ground is within a 30-minute walk of a drivable road, and just under a third is more than an hour and a half away.

Trailheads
26
COTREX, computed 2026-10-19
Road miles open, second rifle opener Oct 24–Nov 1, by the smallest vehicle allowed. MVUM plus county and state roads.
Vehicle Miles
Any vehicle
149 mi
High clearance
71 mi
4x4
0 mi
Walking time from a drivable road Share of huntable public ground by foot time from the nearest drivable road. Foot time at a standard pace on Glassline's travel model (slope, vegetation, trails), from the nearest highway, road a high-clearance vehicle can drive, or trailhead, with every road open.
Walking time Share
Within 30 min
35.7%
30–60 min
18.2%
60–90 min
16.5%
Over 90 min
29.6%

Hunt codes and draw results

2 hunt codes for second rifle, 2026, with CPW's primary-draw results for 2024–2026.

Hunt code Year Licenses Residents Nonresidents
1st-choice applicants Drawn Drawn out at 1st-choice applicants Drawn Drawn out at
E-M-048-O2-R bull 2024 20 75 12 3 points 36 4 5 points
2025 20 62 11 3 points 20 4 5 points
2026 20 47 12 2 points 15 4 4 points
E-F-048-O2-R cow 2024 50 88 37 1 point 7 1 2 points
2025 50 86 34 1 point 8 3 1 point
2026 50 86 32 1 point 7 5 1 point

Hunt codes from the CPW 2026 big game brochure. A code valid in several units counts every hunter in all of them.

Draw results are CPW's primary-draw recap and drawn-out-at reports, 2024–2026, adult licenses. "Drawn out at" is the lowest preference-point level that drew a license; "Leftover" means licenses remained after the draw. A code valid in several units counts every applicant for all of them. Source: CPW draw reports, 2024–2026.

What the research says for this season

Findings from published studies and agency work, as tendencies. They describe how elk have behaved where they were studied, not where they are in Unit 48.

  • In Montana GPS work, rifle-season elk tended to hold about a mile or more from open motorized routes, in blocks of 5,000 acres or more.

    Ranglack et al., 2017 Established finding

  • At Oregon's Starkey Experimental Forest, bulls chose more canopy and kept away from open roads by day during hunts, and the shift was stronger in rifle seasons than in archery.

    Smith et al., 2022 Single study

Read next: Colorado second rifle elk, 2026 · How to e-scout a Colorado elk unit

Build a plan for Unit 48, free.

Start free

POIs are terrain candidates — places worth checking, not animal locations.

Reference

Terrain, the multi-year numbers, neighbors and sources. Each opens in place.

Terrain and habitat

8,800–14,430 ft; conifer 45.4% and rock & scree 20.9%; burns: Willow Fire, Interlaken Fire and La Plata Fire (2026, 2024 and 2025).

Unit-wide figures, computed 2026-10-19.

Elevation Acres per 1,000 ft band. USGS 3DEP.
  1. 8k–9k ft 800 ac
  2. 9k–10k ft 45,190 ac
  3. 10k–11k ft 41,980 ac
  4. 11k–12k ft 51,110 ac
  5. 12k–13k ft 42,610 ac
  6. 13k–14k ft 8,810 ac
  7. 14k–15k ft 380 ac
Table view
BandAcres
8,000–9,000 ft800 ac
9,000–10,000 ft45,190 ac
10,000–11,000 ft41,980 ac
11,000–12,000 ft51,110 ac
12,000–13,000 ft42,610 ac
13,000–14,000 ft8,810 ac
14,000–15,000 ft380 ac
Slope Share of the unit per slope class.
  1. Under 5° 16.8%
  2. 5–15° 27.3%
  3. 15–25° 23.7%
  4. 25–35° 20.6%
  5. 35°+ 11.5%
Table view
Slope classShare
Flat (under 5°)16.8%
Gentle (5–15°)27.3%
Moderate (15–25°)23.7%
Steep (25–35°)20.6%
Very steep (35° and up)11.5%
Aspect Share of non-flat ground facing each way.
  1. N 12.5%
  2. NE 15.4%
  3. E 17.5%
  4. SE 17%
  5. S 13.5%
  6. SW 8%
  7. W 6.7%
  8. NW 9.3%
Table view
AspectShare
North12.5%
Northeast15.4%
East17.5%
Southeast17%
South13.5%
Southwest8%
West6.7%
Northwest9.3%
Vegetation LF2024 existing vegetation, groups of 1% or more.
  1. Conifer 45.4%
  2. Rock & scree 20.9%
  3. Alpine grass 10%
  4. Shrubland 6.8%
  5. Riparian & wetland 4.3%
  6. Grass & meadow 4.2%
  7. Aspen 3.3%
  8. Water 2.7%
  9. Glacier & ice 1.6%
Table view
Vegetation groupShare
Conifer45.4%
Rock & scree20.9%
Alpine grass10%
Shrubland6.8%
Riparian & wetland4.3%
Grass & meadow4.2%
Aspen3.3%
Water2.7%
Glacier & ice1.6%
Item Value Data
Burned 0–3 years ago 8,300 acWillow Fire (2026), 7,200 acInterlaken Fire (2024), 700 acLa Plata Fire (2025), 100 ac NIFC since 2020 NIFC since 2020
Openings in timber 688 openings of 1–40 ac, from lidar covering 99.9% of the unit 2026-10-19 2026-10-19
Habitat Score, second rifle Share of 154,100 ac of huntable public ground in each score band. Median 2.8. Scoring v20, computed 2026-10-19.
Table view
ScoreShare of scored ground
0–0.50%
0.5–12.6%
1–1.57.9%
1.5–213.8%
2–2.514%
2.5–321.6%
3–3.528.5%
3.5–410.8%
4–4.50.7%
4.5–50%

Glassline's Habitat Score grades terrain and habitat for the season on food, water, breeding and shelter. Shown here as one distribution for the whole unit, never a map: it grades ground, not animal locations.

The numbers

CPW harvest estimates 2022–2024 for the chosen season and all seasons, the Collegiate Range herd (E-17) estimate for 2025 and hunter density, 2024.

Second rifle success fell from 39% to 22% between 2022 and 2024, while the season's hunters fell by about a fifth. Across all seasons, hunters held about steady between 2022 and 2024. Unit 48 is one of 4 units in CPW's Collegiate Range herd unit (E-17), estimated at about 3,500 elk after the 2025 hunt, with 23 bulls per 100 cows.

Hunters, harvest and success
Season Year Hunters Harvest Success
Second rifle 2022 80 31 39%
2023 68 21 31%
2024 62 13 22%
All seasons 2022 348 122 35%
2023 339 97 29%
2024 339 93 27%

CPW elk harvest reports, 2022–2024. A dash: not reported.

Item Value Data
Hunter density 6 hunter-days per sq mi, all seasons CPW 2024 CPW 2024
Herd estimate (Collegiate Range, E-17) 3,470 post-hunt · 2,990 in 2019 CPW 2025 CPW 2025
Bull:cow ratio 23 bulls per 100 cows CPW 2025 CPW 2025

CPW harvest figures are survey estimates, not counts, and they cover the whole unit, private land included. Source: CPW harvest reports, 2022–2024.

Herd numbers cover the whole Collegiate Range herd unit (E-17), which also takes in Units 56, 481 and 561: CPW manages herds, not units. Source: CPW post-hunt population estimate, 2025.

Neighbors

Units 49, 471, 47, 481 and 45, nearest first.

From each unit's own page; dates there.

What this page can't tell you

Closures, private ground, this year's pressure and animal locations.
  • Closures. Forest, fire and road closure orders change through the season and aren't checked here. The managing agency's current order governs.
  • Private ground. Land with no public hunting access is hunted only with the owner's permission, and the public-land share above leaves it out.
  • This year's pressure. CPW's hunter numbers run a year or more behind the season you're planning.
  • Animal locations. These are terrain, access, harvest and herd figures, and CPW's mapped ranges are range lines; none of them places an animal. Finding elk is still your job.

Sources

23 datasets and studies, dated where the source dates them.
  1. Elk statistics: population estimates and harvest reports — Colorado Parks and Wildlife
  2. Colorado big game hunting: brochure, seasons and hunt codes — Colorado Parks and Wildlife
  3. Game Management Unit boundaries (Hunting Atlas) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife On the map: unit boundaries, 2025.
  4. COMaP: Colorado Ownership, Management and Protection — Colorado Natural Heritage Program, 2026-10-12 On the map: public land by manager, mapped 2026-07-29.
  5. 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), 1/3 arc-second — U.S. Geological Survey On the map: shaded relief from 5 m and 10 m lidar elevation, mapped 2026-10-04; elevation bands and slope, mapped 2026-10-04.
  6. LANDFIRE Existing Vegetation Type (LF 2024) — U.S. Geological Survey / USDA Forest Service, LF2024
  7. Wildland Fire Interagency Geospatial Services (WFIGS) fire perimeters — National Interagency Fire Center On the map: burns over 100 acres since 2020, mapped 2026-06-29.
  8. 3DEP lidar point clouds (canopy height model) — U.S. Geological Survey
  9. COTREX: Colorado Trail Explorer — Colorado Parks and Wildlife On the map: trailheads, 2024.
  10. Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM) — USDA Forest Service On the map: roads by vehicle class, drawn as open on the selected season's opener, mapped 2026-08-22.
  11. Highways and major roads — Colorado Department of Transportation On the map: highways, mapped 2026-07-31.
  12. SNOTEL network: daily snow depth and snow water equivalent — USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2026-10-20 On the map: SNOTEL stations.
  13. U.S. Drought Monitor — National Drought Mitigation Center, 2026-10-13
  14. MOD13Q1 vegetation indices (NDVI), 250 m 16-day — NASA LP DAAC, 2026-09-29
  15. National Weather Service 7-day gridpoint forecast — National Weather Service, 2026-10-21
  16. National Weather Service Area Forecast Discussion (BOU, GJT, PUB) — National Weather Service, 2026-10-21
  17. Effects of bull age on conception dates and pregnancy rates of cow elk — Noyes, Johnson, Bryant, Findholt and Thomas, Journal of Wildlife Management 60(3), 1996
  18. Security areas for elk during archery and rifle hunting seasons — Ranglack, Proffitt, Canfield, Gude, Rotella and Garrott, Journal of Wildlife Management 81(5), 2017
  19. Wildfire extends the shelf life of elk nutritional resources regardless of fire severity — Snobl, Proffitt and Millspaugh, Ecosphere 13(7), 2022
  20. Behavioral responses of male elk to hunting risk — Smith, Spitz, Brown, Wisdom, Rowland, Forrester, Johnson and Clark, Journal of Wildlife Management 86, 2022
  21. Plasticity in elk migration timing is a response to changing environmental conditions — Rickbeil, Merkle, Anderson, Atwood, Beckmann, Cole, Courtemanch, Dewey, Gustine, Kauffman, McWhirter, Mong, Proffitt, White and Middleton, Global Change Biology 25, 2019
  22. Gazetteer files, places — U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 On the map: towns, 2024.
  23. Species Activity Mapping: elk seasonal ranges — Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2025 On the map: CPW mapped ranges, 2025.

Build a plan for Unit 48, free.

Start free

POIs are terrain candidates — places worth checking, not animal locations.