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 third and newest Wilderness area to Alabama, the Dugger Mountain Wilderness became part of the National Wilderness Preservation System in December of 1999, when President Clinton signed the legislation. This Wilderness is managed to restore and preserve the natural ecological conditions of the area and is administered by the USDA Forest Service.

In this unique Wilderness, you can enjoy challenging recreational activities and extraordinary opportunities for solitude.

The Dugger Mountain Wilderness is named for the nearby Dugger Mountain, which rises to a height of 2,140 feet. Looking across pasture land into a small community called Rabbittown, Dugger Mountain Wilderness is a picturesque view of tranquility.

Dugger Mountain is one of the highest peak in Alabama and is located in the Talladega National Forest, Shoal Creek District. The area designated as Wilderness encompasses approximately 9,200 acres and brings the total Wilderness acres to more than 41,000 or about seven percent of the total land base in the National Forests in Alabama.

The Wilderness encompasses some of the most rugged mountainous terrain in Alabama, as well as numerous endangered and threatened plant communities.

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 Dugger 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

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 Dugger Mountain Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Alabama 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 106-156

Date: December 9, 1999
Acreage: 9,200 acres

Dugger Mountain Wilderness Act of 1999 - Public Law 106-156 (12/9/1999) To designate certain Federal lands in the Talladega National Forest in the State of Alabama as the Dugger Mountain Wilderness

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 106-156 or special provisions for 106-156 or legislative history for 106-156.

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.