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.

Oregon's largest Wilderness encompasses the heart of the Wallowa Mountains, once home to the Nez Perce Indians. It also qualifies as the state's largest continuous alpine area and encompasses Legore Lake, at 8,880 feet the highest lake above sea level in the state. Approximately 534 miles of trails provide visitors with opportunities to travel throughout this area. The area is accessible by several trailheads ranging from rustic sites with low amenities and requiring high-clearance vehicles to paved trailhead parking areas with restrooms. Some of these sites require a trailhead parking permit (i.e.. Northwest Forest Pass). These may be purchased on site at the fee stations, or as an annual pass at local outdoor stores or online.. This vast region has almost 60 high alpine lakes, which are surrounded by open meadows, bare granite peaks and ridges, and classical U-shaped glacial valleys thickly forested in their lower sections and rising to scattered stands of alpine timber. Elevations start at about 3,000 feet and top out at 9,845 feet on Sacajawea Peak near the center of the area. Thirty-one summits exceed 8,000 feet. Many fish species can be found in the miles of streams and rivers. Elk, deer, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep can be found in this area, as well as wolves, black bears, bobcats, and mountain lions.

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 Eagle Cap 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 Eagle Cap Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Oregon 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 88-577

Date: September 3, 1964
Acreage: 216,250 acres

The Wilderness Act - Public law 88-577 (9/3/1964) To establish a National Wilderness Preservation System for the permanent good of the whole people, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 88-577 or special provisions for 88-577 or legislative history for 88-577.

Public Law 92-521

Date: October 21, 1972
Acreage: 72,420 acres

(No official title, adds to Eagle Cap Wilderness) - Public law 92-521 (10/21/1972) To authorize and direct the Secretary of Agriculture to classify as a wilderness area the national forest lands adjacent to the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area, known as the Minam River Canyon and adjoining area, in Oregon, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 92-521 or legislative history for 92-521.

Public Law 98-328

Date: June 26, 1984
Acreage: 66,500 acres

Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public law 98-328 (6/26/1984) To designate certain national forest system lands in the State of Oregon for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-328 or special provisions for 98-328 or legislative history for 98-328.

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.