Hunting the urban backcountry wilderness: a misnomer? Perhaps in most cases it is. However, I recently stumbled across an area that challenges this notion. Located on the urban-rural fringe of Southwest Denver the 8,200 acre Highlands Ranch “Backcountry Wilderness Area” hosts a herd of 300 elk, 400-class bulls, and provides both limited hunting opportunities and critical over-wintering habitat for elk and deer. The Backcountry Wilderness Area is formerly private land now conserved through a ...