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 northern portion of the 6,400-acre refuge is a mass of mangrove islands designated as J. N. "Ding" Darling Wilderness. Here, you can expect summer temperatures in the 90s and winter temperatures in the 70s. Humidity is almost always high, and afternoon rain showers are common in the summer.

Mosquitoes and no-see-ums can be abundant at times, especially in the summer. Other residents include alligators, raccoons, bobcats, river otters, and marsh rabbits. Creatures for whom the refuge was established include such migratory birds as ospreys, brown pelicans, moorhens, ducks, herons, egrets, anhingas, wood storks, and roseate spoonbills. Motorized boating is allowed in designated areas. Kayaking, canoeing, and sportfishing is allowed throughout the open water areas of the Wilderness. Public access is restricted in designated closed areas and bird rookeries.

Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, helped pioneer the conservation movement, serving as head of the U.S. Biological Survey (forerunner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), creating the Federal Duck Stamp Program, starting the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Program, and providing strong support for the expansion and administration of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Today, more than half of the 12-mile subtropical barrier island called Sanibel Island has been protected and bears witness to the legacy of the conservation visionary J. N. "Ding" Darling, through the National Wildlife Refuge named in his honor and the private conservation foundation he inspired.

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 J.N. "Ding" Darling 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

On the northern portion of Sanibel Island, the Wilderness is located just off Wildlife Drive and includes the lands and waters within the estuary.

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 J.N. "Ding" Darling Wilderness
Google Earth

Florida 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: 2,825 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.

Recreational Opportunities

To, Access the J.N. Ding Darling Wilderness, you may launch a canoe/kayak (non-motorized boat) from Wildlife Drive or by motor boat coming from Pine Island Sound. The wilderness area includes a no motor zone for boats. All motors (including trolling motors) must be turned off and tilted out of the water. The waters are shallow and offer wonderful opportunities to fish or observe wildlife.

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.