Visit Wilderness
Search for a wilderness as the destination for your next outdoor adventure.
Why Visit Wilderness?
Learn more about the diverse ways in which we benefit from wilderness and threats wilderness areas face today.
1
Search for a wilderness as the destination for your next outdoor adventure.
While wilderness can be appreciated from afar—through online content, television, or books—nothing compares to experiencing it firsthand. Activities like camping, hiking, or hunting allow you to fully enjoy the recreational, ecological, spiritual, and health benefits that wilderness areas offer. These areas provide “outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation,” chances to observe wildlife, moments to renew and refresh, and the physical benefits of outdoor exercise. In many wilderness areas, you can even bring your well-behaved dog.
Learn more about the diverse ways in which we benefit from wilderness and threats wilderness areas face today.
Adjacent to Bald Knob Wilderness to the south and the LaRue-Pine Hills/Otter Pond Research Natural Area to the west, Clear Springs is also defined by the waters of Hutchins Creek, which flows through the area. At the western boundary, you’ll find stunning views of the Mississippi and Big Muddy Rivers from sheer limestone bluffs that rise 400 feet above the valley floor. The deciduous forest, characteristic of the Ozarks, shelters wild turkeys, deer, and various smaller mammals, as well as threatened shortleaf pine, which grows in isolated stands. Hiking away from the steep valley walls is easy and enjoyable, with many secluded spots perfect for camping. No permits are required for trail use or camping.
How to follow the seven standard Leave No Trace principles differs in different parts of the country (desert vs. Rocky Mountains). Click on any of the principles listed below to learn more about how they apply in the Clear Springs Wilderness.
For more information on Leave No Trace, Visit the Leave No Trace, Inc. website.
Digital and paper maps are critical tools for wilderness visitors. Online maps can help you plan and prepare for your visit ahead of time. You can also carry digital maps with you on your GPS unit or other handheld GPS device. Having a paper map with you in the backcountry, as well as solid orienteering skills, however, ensures that you can still route-find in the event that your electronic device fails.
Motorized equipment and equipment used for mechanical transport is generally prohibited in all wilderness areas. This includes the use of motor vehicles, motorboats, motorized equipment, bicycles, hang gliders, wagons, carts, portage wheels, and the landing of aircraft including helicopters.
Date: November 28, 1990
Acreage: 4,730 acres
Illinois Wilderness Act of 1990 - Public law 101-633 (11/28/1990) To designate certain lands in the State of Illinois as wilderness, and for other purposes
For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 101-633 or special provisions for 101-633 or legislative history for 101-633 for this law.
People who volunteer their time to steward our wilderness areas are an essential part of wilderness management. Contact the following groups to inquire about volunteer opportunities. Groups are listed alphabetically by the state(s) in which the wilderness is located.