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.

Few places in America, and nowhere outside of Alaska, provide a wilderness experience to match the sheer magnitude of the Frank Church-River of No Return, the largest contiguous unit of the National Wilderness Preservation System in the Lower 48. It is second in size only to California's Death Valley Wilderness, which consists of many non-contiguous pieces. This area combines the old Idaho Primitive Area, the Salmon Breaks Primitive Area, territory on six national forests, and a small swath of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Senator Frank Church played a key role in the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964, and his name was added to this Wilderness in 1984, shortly before his death. It is a land of clear rivers, deep canyons, and rugged mountains. Two white-water rivers draw many human visitors: the Main Salmon River, which runs west near the northern boundary; and the Middle Fork of the Salmon, which begins near the southern boundary and runs north for about 104 miles until it joins the Main. Reaching 6,300 feet from the river bottom, the canyon carved by the Main Salmon is deeper than most of the earth's canyons--including the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River--and this fast-moving waterway has been dubbed the River of No Return. In the northeastern corner of the Wilderness, the Selway River flows north into the nearby Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. Trout fishing usually rates from good to excellent. The Middle Fork, the Selway, and nearly all of the Main Salmon are Wild and Scenic Rivers. Unlike the sheer walls of the Grand Canyon, these rivers rush below wooded ridges rising steeply toward the sky, beneath eroded bluffs and ragged, solitary crags. The Salmon River Mountains dominate the interior of the Wilderness. Without a major crest, these mountains splay out in a multitude of minor crests in all directions, and rise gradually to wide summits. East of the Middle Fork, the fabulous Bighorn Crags form a jagged series of summits, at least one topping 10,000 feet. The Crags surround 14 strikingly beautiful clearwater lakes. Hiking up from the rivers into the mountains brings sudden elevation changes. Great forests of Douglas fir and lodgepole pine cover much of the area, with spruce and fir higher up and ponderosa pine at lower altitudes. The forests are broken by grassy meadows and sun-washed, treeless slopes. A dry country, as little as 10 inches of precipitation falls near the rivers. As much as 50 inches may fall on the mountaintops, but much of it is snow. Despite the dryness, wildlife abounds. As many as 370 species have been identified in a single year, including eight big game animals. Wildfire has been allowed to play a more natural role in the wilderness in recent years. Tens of thousands of acres have burned without the interference of humans, producing a mosaic of vegetation from severely burned timber stands in some areas to lightly burned grass slopes and understory in other areas. A network of 296 maintained trails (approximately 2,616 miles worth) provides access to this seemingly endless area, crossing rivers and streams on 114 bridges. This is a paradise for horsepackers. Thirty-two Forest Service Roads lead to 66 trailheads. Despite the extensive trail system, an amazing 1.5 million acres remains trail-free. Small planes are allowed to land on several primitive airstrips dating back to the days before wilderness designation. Jet boats are allowed on the Main Salmon. Dozens of outfitters offer float, jetboat, horsepacking, backpacking, and ski trips. For information, contact the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association, P.O. Box 95, Boise, ID 83701; (208) 342-1438.

Applicable Wilderness Law(s)

Public Law 96-312

Date: July 23, 1980
Acreage: 2,239,000 acres

Central Idaho Wilderness Act - Public law 96-312 (7/23/1980) To designate certain public lands in central Idaho as the River of No Return Wilderness, to designate a segment of the Salmon River as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 96-312 or special provisions for 96-312 or legislative history for 96-312.

Public Law 98-231

Date: March 14, 1984
Acreage: 0 acres

(No official title, renames River of No Return Wilderness) - Public law 98-231 (3/14/1984) To rename the "River of No Return Wilderness" in the state of Idaho as the "Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness"

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-231 or legislative history for 98-231.

Public Law 111-11

Date: March 30, 2009
Acreage: 0 acres

Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 - Public law 111-11 (3/30/2009) An act to designate certain land as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, to authorize certain programs and activities in the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 111-11 or special provisions for 111-11 or legislative history for 111-11.

Public Law 113-136

Date: July 25, 2014
Acreage: 0 acres

Idaho Wilderness Water Resources Protection Act - Public law 113-136 (7/25/2014) To authorize the continued use of certain water diversions located on National Forest System land in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in the State of Idaho, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 113-136 or special provisions for 113-136.