Visit Wilderness

Search for a wilderness as the destination for your next outdoor adventure.

Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, Minnesota

Why Visit Wilderness?

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.

The Clipper Mountain Wilderness is a rugged desert landscape marked by striped yellow and dark brown mesas, narrow canyons with hidden springs, and sparsely vegetated alluvial fans. A small volcanic mountain range runs northeast to southwest, with Clipper Mountain as its centerpiece. Rising to 4,625 feet, this ridge dramatically drops off in steep cliffs that overlook the Clipper and Fenner Valleys. Castle Dome, a prominent landmark, is easily visible from Historic Route 66 to the south and east.

The landscape is dominated by creosote bush desert scrub and desert wash scrub. In spring, the alluvial fans come alive with yellow brittlebush and a variety of wildflowers, adding bursts of color to the arid terrain. Wildlife is abundant and typical of the Mojave Desert. Visitors might encounter a herd of bighorn sheep, coyotes, jackrabbits, ground squirrels, kangaroo rats, roadrunners, and quail. Raptors such as prairie falcons, red-tailed hawks, and golden eagles soar overhead, while rattlesnakes and lizards move quietly across the rocky ground.

The entire wilderness serves as critical habitat for the threatened desert tortoise, making it an important refuge for one of the Mojave’s most iconic species. With its dramatic cliffs, sweeping views, and rich desert life, the Clipper Mountain Wilderness offers a striking and memorable experience.

Leave No Trace

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 Clipper Mountain Wilderness.

Plan Ahead and Prepare
Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
Dispose of Waste Properly
Leave What You Find
Minimize Campfire Impacts
Respect Wildlife
Be Considerate of Other Visitors

For more information on Leave No Trace, Visit the Leave No Trace, Inc. website.

Location

The area is located in San Bernardino County, California between I-40 and historic Route 66, approximately 5 miles northwest of Essex, California. Maps of the area can be obtained from the Bureau of Land Management Field Office in Needles, California.

Maps

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.

Online Maps

Interactive Map of the Clipper Mountain Wilderness
Google Earth

California Wildernesses

Printed Maps

Fetching MyTopo from Database

USGS Store

Rules & Regulations

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.

Wilderness-Specific Regulations

Learn more about why regulations may be necessary in wilderness.

Contacts

Applicable Wilderness Law(s)

Public Law 103-433

Date: October 31, 1994
Acreage: 26,000 acres

California Desert Protection Act of 1994 - Public Law 103-433 (10/31/1994) "California Desert Protection Act of 1994" An Act to designate certain lands in the California Desert as wilderness, to establish the Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks, to establish the Mojave National Preserve, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 103-433 or special provisions for 103-433 or legislative history for 103-433.

Want to Volunteer for Wilderness?

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.