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 largest of a trio of wilderness areas just southeast of Salt Lake City, the Lone Peak Wilderness contains very rugged terrain with narrow canyons and high peaks. It is located on the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and is managed by the Salt Lake and Pleasant Grove Ranger Districts.

Among the highest peaks are the Little Matterhorn at 11,326 feet and Lone Peak at 11,253 feet, where snow often can remain until midsummer. Much of the higher elevation is alpine, with large, open cirque basins and exposed rocky ridges.

The region is geologically complex. You'll see sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rock formations in dramatic relief, as well as colorful bands stretching for great distances across mountainsides.

A few small lakes add to the scenic beauty of the area.

Douglas fir, subalpine fir, and aspen grow in isolated patches on north-facing slopes. Dense mountain brush and grass dominates the lower altitudes.

State Highway Route 92 follows the American Fork Canyon and with the short stretch of State Highway Route 144, it forms the southern-southeastern boundary of the Wilderness and provides access to trailheads and campgrounds.

State Highway Route 210, along Little Cottonwood Creek Canyon, which also provides access, forms the northern boundary and separates Lone Peak Wilderness from Twin Peaks Wilderness just to the north.

Several of the trails are easy to follow, but many require advanced navigation and route-finding skills. There are about 6 system trails totaling approximately 14 miles in the Lone Peak Wilderness area on the Salt Lake Ranger District side and 8 system trails totaling approximately 32 miles on the Pleasant Grove Ranger District side.

Many people from the Salt Lake City area visit this Wilderness area all year long.

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 Lone Peak 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 Lone Peak Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Utah 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 95-237

Date: February 24, 1978
Acreage: 29,500 acres

Endangered American Wilderness Act - Public law 95-237 (2/24/1978) To designate certain endangered public lands for preservation as wilderness, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 95-237 or special provisions for 95-237 or legislative history for 95-237.

Public Law 117-328

Date: December 29, 2022
Acreage: -108 acres

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 - Making consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023, and for providing emergency assistance for the situation in Ukraine, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 117-328

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.