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 Native Americans who once lived here harvested the rich food supply and left behind mounds, middens, and artifacts dating back 10,000 years. The native population began to dwindle after the Spanish explorers arrived in the early 1500s. In 1823, Major Joseph Woodruff acquired the DeLeon Springs area (the infamous Fountain of Youth) and gave his name to the nearby lake. In 1964, the same year the Wilderness Act was passed, the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge was set aside as migratory bird habitat as well as Wilderness. About one-fourth of the refuge is timbered swamps.

You'll find very little evidence of human domination in this country of freshwater marshes, lakes, and streams, just plenty of wildlife. Species counted here include at least 200 birds, 42 mammals, 58 reptiles, 33 amphibians, and 68 fish. Ducks account for more than half of the migratory birds. Ospreys likewise abound, and no other refuge echoes more often with the weird cries of the limpkin. Black bears, armadillos, otters, and unusually long alligators are commonly sighted. In May and June, manatees move into the refuge and nearby Blue Springs. The bulk of visitors to the Wilderness come to walk along the several levees bisecting the managed wetland impoundments and view birds, alligators, otters, and other wildlife, or fish for bass, bream, and crappie. A large portion of the Wilderness is accessible only by boat.

The Wilderness was established along the western refuge boundary between Honey Creek and the Saint Johns River, and the Alexander Springs Wilderness lies just across the river. With neither road nor trail, the Wilderness receives few human visitors, aside from those who boat along the borders.

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 Lake Woodruff 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

Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge's Wilderness areas are accessible only by boat, the approximately 1,000 acres of Wilderness are located along the western refuge boundary between Honey Creek and the Saint Johns River. The Alexander Springs Wilderness lies just across the river.

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 Lake Woodruff 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: 1,146 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

Access to wilderness areas is by watercraft only.

Recreational Opportunities

Activities include hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, and solitude.

Climate and Special Equipment Needs

The mosquitoes can be intolerable so be sure to bring bug spray.

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.