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 Agassiz Wilderness lies within the 61,500-acre Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge. The Agassiz Wilderness is an important breeding and resting area for migratory birds with habitat management focusing on waterfowl, marsh, and grassland bird species. The Wilderness area contains wetland habitat and lies in the aspen parkland transitional zone between the coniferous forests to the north and east and the prairie pothole region and tallgrass prairie to the west and south. This rich diversity of habitats supports 300 bird species, 50 mammals, 12 amphibians, and 9 reptiles. Bird watching in spring is spectacular when ducks are in full breeding plumage, bald eagles are on their nests, and secretive marsh birds are singing from thick marsh vegetation. Year-round wildlife lovers can hope to catch a glimpse of gray wolves, moose, black bears, or bobcats. Hunters arrive in November to pursue white-tailed deer and grouse. Temperatures range from 59°F to 81°F in July and -4°F to 16°F in January. "Flat" best describes Agassiz, where the terrain elevation rarely varies more than a foot per mile. The Wilderness sinks as low as 1,140 feet above sea level, then "soars" to 1,149 feet. Black spruce and tamarack tower over the soft, spongy forest floor where clusters of pitcher plants and lady slippers bloom. There are two natural boggy bodies of water: Kuriko and Whiskey Lakes. The only authorized public access to the Agassiz Wilderness is during the deer and grouse hunting seasons. There is no camping allowed anywhere in the Agassiz Wilderness. If you want to pitch a tent, head for one of the two primitive state-managed campgrounds adjacent to the Agassiz NWR.

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 Agassiz 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

Agassiz Natioanl Wildlife Refuge is located in northwest Minnesota in Marshall County. The Refuge Headquarters is located 11 miles east of Holt, MN on Marshall County Road 7(22996 290th St. NE, Middle River, MN 56737). Hotel accomodations can be found in Thief River Falls, MN, 23 miles southwest of the Refuge or Grygla, MN, 18 miles east of the Refuge.

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 Agassiz Wilderness
Google Earth

Minnesota 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 94-557

Date: October 19, 1976
Acreage: 4,000 acres

(No official title, designates Fish and Wildlife Service wildernesses) - Public law 94-557 (10/19/1976) To designate certain lands as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System and to provide designation for certain lands as Wilderness Study Areas

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 94-557 or legislative history for 94-557.

General Trip Planning Information

Call before planning a visit,218-449-4115.
Access to the Agassiz Wilderness Area is limited to deer and grouse hunting only. Office Hours are 7:30a to 4:00p. Day Use Only. No fires. The Refuge is closed to public use from 7:00pm until 5:30am.

Recreational Opportunities

Deer and grouse hunting.

Climate and Special Equipment Needs

Recommended gear for hunters: waterboots (knee high or hip), insect repellant or net, compass and GPS.

Safety and Current Conditions

Please be aware that Agassiz's Wilderness Area presents challenging access conditions in a remote, roadless portion of the Refuge.

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.