Great habitat near a two-track

As everyone always says, "You need to hunt a half-mile/mile minimum, etc. from a road to have any luck.." With that being said, here's my situation:

I recently came across a new area this summer that appears to be great elk habitat. They're currently using it like crazy. Tons of heavily traveled game trails, fresh tracks, fresh poop, and I smell elk everytime I go back there. There's plenty of meadows and aspen for feeding and rutting activity, 5-6 ponds/potential wallows in the area for water, and a few north-facing slopes with thick pine for bedding (although I wish there were more). I've personally saw elk there multiple times this summer hitting the meadow and the pond at the bottom of the valley in the pictures below. The ranch-hand living below this section of NF said he's came across a herd of 50+ there this summer on an occasion or two. If it seems too perfect to be true, it is. There's a two-track UTV trail running right on top of the ridge overlooking the meadow and pond. It takes approx 3 hours to get to this spot via public access so I'm not sure how many people will drive all the way to it or even know about it. I've called the biologist, but I'm awaiting an answer on how heavily hunted this area usually is during bow season. Does anyone have experience finding a decent hunting area only for it to have a road go right through it? Success/Failure?

My gut says hunt it opening weekend while they're still on their summer patterns and try to catch one getting water. I also plan to be there during the rut and hope the pressure hasn't been enough to drive them away. Any advice on the matter would be greatly appreciated!

(Still trying to figure out how to get the pictures flipped. My apologies.)

If there is an atv there trail you can be sure people will be driving there no matter how far it is because people are lazy. I guarantee there will be numerous atvs there well before opening day. Best to have a plan B area and a plan C area as well.
Maybe they'll all fall off the ridge driving upside down.

Gr8bawana, I'm inclined to agree with you.

I just checked the USFS MVUM and the trail doesn't show up since it's not a FS road. I wonder if everyone will keep going back towards the wilderness area since you would have to take a side trail to get to the area I'm looking at.

You'll really just have to check it out. During archery season, you're more likely to be able to get away with it. The Born and Raised guys were hunting pretty close to roads and old two tracks in Wyoming last year and getting plenty of bugling action. It's not going to happen with a lot of people around though.

As stated, just have backups. Also, elk are still moving to the high country right now so they may just be moving through. Look for cows, especially after the 4th of July. Bulls roam looking for cows. Look for signs of rutting activity--rubs--in the area to confirm elk are using it during September.

I appreciate the advice, Idhikker. The road is at 10,300ft while the pond is around 9,900ft. The highest point in the surrounding area is only 11,000ft and that's at it's peak, so they don't have too much further to climb. We haven't been seeing bulls, only cows. So I'm hoping we've found the spot where the cows are and the bulls will come to. We saw a few rubs but I'll add that to the top of the to-do list next time I'm there.

Looks like you will at least be ahead of the game since you have scouted before season. You have a good location that you will have confidence in on opening day. Its easier to predict where the elk will be than where the hunters will be.

Based on what you've shared, I would plan to hunt it early and then monitor the road traffic as the season wears on. Sometimes, folks just drive by excellent elk areas. I have a couple of my own that have roads going right through them. Thicker timber and no one bothers to get out of their rig. They just drive right through, even when I had a hot bull coming in last year. Don't discount areas close to roads until you figure out how busy the road is and whatnot. You might just have a hidden gem sitting in plain sight.