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.

At the southern end of John Muir Wilderness, on the western border of Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, Monarch Wilderness amply lives up to its regal name. Few areas of the United States can boast such an abundance of extravagant mountain scenery. Big mountain views of Deer Ridge and the Monarch Divide may be among the best in the world.

Formerly known as the High Sierra Primitive Area, this wildland is steep and rugged, with high ridges standing above deep canyons. Mountain meadows, numerous streams, shallow lakes, and spectacular multicolored rock formations throughout the Wilderness add to the wonder.

Elevations range from about 2,000 feet on the banks of the South Fork of the Kings River to 11,077 feet on Hogback Peak. Brush and oak woodlands cover the lower elevations, giving way to pine and red fir, and, finally, giant sequoias in the higher country.

The ragged, brushy terrain in the northwest area of the Monarch Wilderness (in Sierra National Forest) has no trails, and travel is extremely difficult. Trails in the southern area of the Monarch Wilderness (in Sequoia National Forest) are mostly steep and strenuous. Sheer ruggedness has kept visitation light despite the fact that CA State Highway 180 splits the Wilderness.

The Deer Cove trail from highway 180 rises 3,000 feet in four miles. This one trail provide access into the northern side of highway 180, and the trail leads from the Deer Cove trailhead into Kings Canyon National Park. The two trails in the southern side of Highway 180 are the Deer Meadow trail from Big Meadows road and the Kanawyer trail from Kennedy Meadows trailhead to highway 180 near Cedar Grove campground.

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 Monarch 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 Monarch Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

California 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 98-425

Date: September 28, 1984
Acreage: 45,000 acres

California Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public Law 98-425 (9/28/1984) California Wilderness Act of 1984

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-425 or special provisions for 98-425 or legislative history for 98-425.

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.