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 logging roads that once ran along the streams, waterfalls, rocky outcroppings, and high peaks that distinguish the Chattahoochee Wildlife Management Area are rapidly returning to their natural state. The mountains (Horsetrough is the highest at 4,045 feet) are covered in second-growth upland and cove hardwoods in excess of 60 years of age.

Trout fishing is top-notch, with 65 miles of streams chock-full of rainbow, brook, and brown trout. Some of the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River flow through here.

Deer, squirrels, raccoons, grouse, and wild turkeys dominate among the landlubbing residents, with smaller populations of black bears, woodcocks, and doves.

Most hikers take the Appalachian Trail (AT), which follows the crest of the Blue Ridge through this area for 14 miles. The two shelters on the AT are Low Gap and Blue Mountain.

Jack's Knob Trail enters the Wilderness at Henry Knob and travels south before dividing and joining the AT in two places. Less than an hour's hike on a trail on the east side leads to Horsetrough Falls, which plunges year-round.

Hunters and anglers are common sights, and hikers appear almost every day from spring through fall.

Just across State Highway 75 lies Tray Mountain Wilderness.

Hikers should be aware that encounters with black bears are common in the area. The use of bear proof food storage containers is highly recommended.

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 Mark Trail 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 Mark Trail Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Georgia 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 102-217

Date: December 11, 1991
Acreage: 16,880 acres

Chattahoochee National Forest Protection Act of 1991 - Public law 102-217 (12/11/1991) To designate certain National Forest System lands in the State of Georgia as wilderness, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 102-217 or legislative history for 102-217.

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.