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 Lye Brook Wilderness is east of Manchester Center in the southern Green Mountains of Vermont. This wilderness is named after Lye Brook, which flows through its western half. The wilderness ranges from 900 feet to 2900 feet above sea level. Most is above 2500 feet, on a high plateau with several ponds and bogs. Waterfalls and rocky streams may be found here as well as reflecting pools. The western section is extremely steep, facing west-northwest towards U.S. Route 7 and Manchester. Four and a half miles of the Appalachian/Long Trail cross the northwest tip of the wilderness. Approximately 80% of the area is forested with northern hardwoods: birch, beech, and maple. Thickets of small spruce dot the area. Remnants of railroad grades and old logging roads remain. Several species of neotropical birds, black bear, moose, deer, pine martin and bobcat inhabit these woods. There are many marshy areas off trail and the ecological balance is quite fragile. Take care and be prepared for muddy trails and an intense black fly season in the spring and early summer. Hunting opportunities for deer bring many seasonal visitors, as do snowshoeing and cross-country skiing in the winter months.

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 Lye Brook 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 Lye Brook Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Vermont 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 93-622

Date: January 3, 1975
Acreage: 14,300 acres

(Known as the Eastern Wilderness Areas Act) - Public law 93-622 (1/3/1975) To further the purposes of the Wilderness Act by designating certain acquired lands for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, to provide for study of certain additional lands for such inclusion, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 93-622 or special provisions for 93-622 or legislative history for 93-622.

Public Law 98-322

Date: June 19, 1984
Acreage: 1,080 acres

Vermont Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public law 98-322 (6/19/1984) To designate certain National Forest System lands in the state of Vermont for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System and to designate a National Recreation Area

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-322 or special provisions for 98-322 or legislative history for 98-322.

Public Law 109-382

Date: December 1, 2006
Acreage: 2,338 acres

New England Wilderness Act of 2006 - Public law 109-382 (12/1/2006) To designate certain land in New England as wilderness for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation system and certain land as a National Recreation Area, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 109-382 or special provisions for 109-382 or legislative history for 109-382.

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.