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.

Captain George Wheeler, who surveyed much of the American Southwest in the 1870s, wrote that the view from Mount Baldy was "the most magnificent and effective of any among the large number that have come under my observation."
In other words, he liked it . . . he really liked it.

So do the scores of day hikers who visit Mount Baldy Wilderness today, making it one of the most popular hiking areas in Arizona.

An extinct volcano rising to 11,403 feet, Mount Baldy stands within the White Mountain Apache Reservation; the Wilderness occupies its eastern slope.

Most of the forest covering the mountain is mixed conifers with ponderosa pine in the lower elevations and fir and spruce higher up. Large meadows break open the forest, carpeted in summer with wildflowers such as Indian paintbrush, columbine, penstemon, iris, and lupine.

Until winter cloaks the area in snow, elk and deer are commonly seen. Beavers, mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, and black bears live here with a variety of smaller mammals. Bald eagles, falcons, and hawks circle beneath the sun.

Summer thunderstorms are frequent, as are lightning strikes on the mountain.

Two major trails crisscross the Wilderness. The popular West Baldy Trail (Sheep's Crossing) follows the West Fork of the Little Colorado River for seven miles. The East Baldy Trail (Phelp's Cabin) follows the East Fork of the Little Colorado for seven miles and receives much less foot traffic. The trails join near the reservation boundary to form a 14-mile loop. The last half mile to the top of the mountain, on Reservation land, is closed.

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 Mount Baldy 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 Mount Baldy Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Arizona 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 91-504

Date: October 23, 1970
Acreage: 7,000 acres

(No official title, designates Fish and Wildlife Service wildernesses) - Public Law 91-504 (10/23/1970) To designate certain lands as wilderness within National Wildlife Refuges

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 91-504 or legislative history for 91-504.

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.