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 precipitous, rocky, and brushy Galiuro Mountains rise abruptly in block-like uplifts from the almost flat desert plains. Nineteen miles in length and six miles in width (on average), they are almost all designated Wilderness.

Erosion has done its work here, creating many rugged cliffs with brightly colored rocks and exposed soils.

Bisected by two main canyons, Redfield and Rattlesnake, the mountains support vegetation varying from semidesert grasslands through pinion, juniper, oak, and brush to mixed conifers and even aspens in the higher elevations. From about 4,000 feet, the ground rises to 7,671 feet on Bassett Peak.

You'll find no perennial streams, but riparian areas appear throughout the Wilderness. Several springs supply water almost year-round: Power's Garden, Mud Spring, Corral Spring, Juniper Spring, South Field Spring, Kielberg Dam, Walnut Spring, Cedar Spring, and Holdout Spring.

The plentiful wildlife includes black bears, mountain lions, javelinas, coyotes, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn, as well as many smaller mammals and birds.

Near the summit of Bassett Peak you may come across the wreckage of a World War II B-24 bomber. The plane crashed there on a training run in January of 1943, killing all 11 men on board. A plaque mounted on one of the wings commemorates their final resting place.

While there are a number of hiking trails, they are poorly marked and infrequently maintained. Maps and a compass are recommended. Off the trails, the topography makes walking extremely difficult.

Human use of this area is light.

Contact the local Forest Service office for current information on water sources.

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 Galiuro 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 Galiuro Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Arizona 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: 55,000 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 98-406

Date: August 28, 1984
Acreage: 23,600 acres

Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public Law 98-406 (8/28/1984) Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-406 or special provisions for 98-406 or legislative history for 98-406.

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.