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 Emigrant Wilderness lies on the upper western slope of the central Sierra Nevada, bordered by Yosemite Wilderness to the south, Carson-Iceberg to the north, and Hoover Wilderness to the east. Stretching about 25 miles long and up to 15 miles wide, its waters drain into the Stanislaus and Tuolumne Rivers.

This glaciated landscape features granite peaks, lava-capped ridges, alpine lakes, streams, and deep canyons. The northeast is dominated by volcanic terrain, while the rest consists of granite ridges, meadows, and over 200 miles of trails, including part of the Pacific Crest Trail. Elevations range from below 5,000 feet to 11,570 feet at Leavitt Peak.

Snowfall accounts for 80% of the 50 inches of annual precipitation, often lingering into June. Summers are dry and mild, though afternoon storms and freezing nights can occur.

Native peoples, including the Me-Wuk and Piute, occupied the area for thousands of years. Following the Gold Rush, emigrants like the Clark-Skidmore party crossed through the region in 1852, though the route was soon abandoned due to its difficulty.

Originally managed as the Emigrant Basin Primitive Area in 1931, it became the Emigrant Wilderness in 1975. In 1984, over 6,000 acres were added through the California Wilderness Act.

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 Emigrant 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 Emigrant Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
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 93-632

Date: January 3, 1975
Acreage: 106,910 acres

(No official title, designates Fish and Wildlife Service wildernesses) - Public law 93-632 (1/3/1975) Designation of wilderness areas within the National Widlife Refuge System

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 93-632 or legislative history for 93-632.

Public Law 98-425

Date: September 28, 1984
Acreage: 6,100 acres

California Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public Law 98-425 (9/28/1984) California Wilderness Act of 1984

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-425 or special provisions for 98-425 or legislative history for 98-425.

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.