Unit G18 (Holy Cross)
Colorado Hunting Guide — Mountain Goat
Unit G18 lies in Eagle and Pitkin counties. CPW bounds it by Holy Cross Wilderness boundary and Continental Divide among others. CPW's harvest estimates put mountain goat success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 87% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Mountain Goat Hunting in Unit G18
Unit G18 lies in Eagle and Pitkin counties. CPW bounds it by Holy Cross Wilderness boundary and Continental Divide among others. CPW's harvest estimates put mountain goat success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 87% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Mountain Goat in Unit G18
What CPW publishes for unit G18 is a boundary, not a mountain goat map. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Eagle and Pitkin counties.
The lines of the unit: Holy Cross Wilderness boundary and Continental Divide
CPW has unit G18 bounded on the north by Holy Cross Wilderness boundary, on the east by Holy Cross Wilderness boundary and Continental Divide; on the south by Continental Divide; on the W by the Eagle River-Fryingpan River watershed divide and Holy Cross Wilderness boundary. 13 cpw.state.co.us. That is a legal description, not a habitat map. What it does give you is the way in: the rivers and highways you cross, and the divides that decide which drainage you end up in.
High ground inside the line: Mount of the Holy Cross, Holy Cross Ridge and Mount Jackson
Named high points inside the unit include Mount of the Holy Cross at 13,965 feet, Holy Cross Ridge at 13,965 feet, Mount Jackson at 13,648 feet, Gold Dust Peak at 13,373 feet and Whitney Peak at 13,275 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Goats live above the trees on cliff and talus and come down only when weather makes them.
Holding ground: Gold Dust Basin, Elk Park and Snowslide Park
Below them sit Gold Dust Basin at 11,402 feet, Elk Park at 9,259 feet, Snowslide Park at 9,218 feet, Fall Creek Pass at 12,824 feet and Fancy Pass at 12,407 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Pick the one with the least road on its upwind side.
The herd this unit belongs to: MG-17
CPW does not manage mountain goat unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit MG-17, and unit G18 is one piece of it. The rest of MG-17 is unit G17. So the objective behind your tag was written for that whole area, and a neighbouring unit in the same herd is a fairer comparison than the statewide figure.
Unit G18 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Mount of the Holy Cross (13,965 ft), Mount Jackson (13,648 ft), Gold Dust Peak (13,373 ft), Whitney Peak (13,275 ft)
Holding ground: Fall Creek Pass (12,824 ft), Fancy Pass (12,407 ft), Negro Basin (11,659 ft)
Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.
How to Hunt Mountain Goat in Unit G18
Mountain Goat Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mountain goat success in unit G18 at 100% — 4 animals taken by 4 hunters. On a sample that small the percentage moves several points with one animal, so read the hunter count beside it.
These are the agency's own printed figures for this unit, not a modelled estimate and not a state average. They describe one season, so check CPW's current harvest estimates before you read a trend into them.
Mountain Goat Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts Req |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — 1st Season either sex (resident) | 6 | 277 | 2.2% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 259 | 0.4% | 3 |
Data from 2026 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number.
Open in Draw Odds EngineCPW's 2026 draw recap for mountain goat in unit G18, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- GEG18O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Either Sex, resident: 277 applicants for 6 licences, 2.2% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- GEG18O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Either Sex, nonresident: 259 applicants for 1 licences, 0.4% drawn, 3 preference points needed
Colorado runs a pure preference-point draw, so the point figure above is the requirement the agency published for that code in that year, not a forecast for the next one. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Colorado unit G18?
What is the mountain goat success rate in unit G18?
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Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-23.
- Colorado Sheep & Goat Hunting Brochure — Game Management Unit (GMU) Descriptions (pp. 16-17) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: GMU boundary description, Counties the unit lies in, Data analysis unit (DAU) the unit belongs to · accessed 2026-10-22
- 2023 Colorado Mountain goat Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for mountain goat in unit G18, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22
- CPW CPWAdminData feature service — GMU and sheep/goat unit boundaries — Colorado Parks and Wildlife GIS Unit · supports: Mapped extent of the unit, Which named ground falls inside the unit line · accessed 2026-10-22