Weminuche Wilderness, Protected wilderness area in Mineral County, Colorado, US.

Weminuche Wilderness is a protected nature reserve spread across San Juan and Rio Grande National Forests, with mountain peaks rising above 14,000 feet. The land includes diverse terrain ranging from thick forests to open alpine ridges, with dozens of established trails winding through the landscape.

Congress established this as a protected wilderness area in 1975, recognizing its value for preservation. Later laws in the 1980s and 1990s extended protection to additional surrounding lands.

The wilderness takes its name from the Weminuche band of the Ute, whose homeland included this part of southwest Colorado. The Ute name survives on the landscape, while the Weminuche people themselves were not confined to the protected area. The Needleton and Elk Park train stops, used by hikers today, follow a route through the Animas River Gorge that long predates the wilderness designation.

Travel is limited to foot and horseback, with nearly 500 miles of interconnected trails reached from over 30 trailheads around the periphery. The Needleton and Elk Park stops on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad give the most direct access to the Needle Mountains. Chicago Basin, reached by the 6-mile Needle Creek Trail from Needleton, has use restrictions beyond the wilderness-wide rules.

The Continental Divide Trail crosses the wilderness for 83 miles, from Wolf Creek Pass in the southeast to Stony Pass in the northwest, forming the backbone of a trail network of nearly 500 miles. Two stops on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Needleton and Elk Park, lie inside the Animas River Gorge and serve as trailheads into the Needle Mountains.