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 centerpiece of the southern portion of this Wilderness, Mount Nebo rises to a majestic 11,928 feet the highest point in the entire Wasatch Range. The peak looms above a swatch of mountain scenery located between Interstate 15 and the Nebo Scenic Loop Byway.

Wilderness elevation starts at 5,400 feet and climbs through mountain valleys and meadows broken by moderate to steep ridges. The climb will take you through great biological diversity, beginning with a sagebrush-cliffrose association, to mountain brush (oakbrush and mahogany), aspen, and white fir, then spruce and alpine fir, until you reach the timberline and an alpine zone with primrose, alpine moss, and tundra plants.

Bobcats, mule deer, and elk are commonly seen here; black bears and mountain lions are more elusive. Wildflowers abound in late spring and summer.

There are 4 Forest Service maintained trails, totaling approximately 21 miles in the Mount Nebo Wilderness. There are several other trails that border the Wilderness and allow access as well.

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 Nebo 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 Nebo 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 98-428

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

Utah Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public law 98-428 (9/28/1984) To designate certain national forest system lands in the state of Utah for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System to release other forest lands for multiple use management, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-428 or special provisions for 98-428 or legislative history for 98-428.

Public Law 107-334

Date: December 16, 2002
Acreage: 14 acres

Mount Nebo Boundary Adjustment Act - Public law 107-334 (12/20/2002) To make adjustments to the boundaries of the Mount Nebo Wilderness Area.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 107-334 or legislative history for 107-334.

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.