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.

Mount Olympus is one of three Wilderness areas that form a spectacular backdrop for the Salt Lake Valley.

Located southeast of Salt Lake City, Mount Olympus Wilderness consists of narrow canyons and rugged terrain varying from moderate to severe. Elevations range approximately from 5,000 feet to 10,000 feet. High peaks include Mount Raymond, Gobbler's Knob, and Mount Olympus itself, topping off at 9,793 feet.

The higher country is characterized by large, alpine cirque basins and bare rocky ridges. The higher elevations can often have snow until the midsummer. Patches of various firs and aspen grow in stands, mainly on north-facing slopes.

Lower elevations are covered in dense mountain brush mixed with sagebrush and grass.

State Route 190 follows the scenic canyon of Big Cottonwood Creek along the southern boundary, and the canyon separates this Wilderness from Twin Peaks Wilderness to the south. Mill Creek Canyon and its county road form the northern boundary. From both of these roads, you can enter the Wilderness from several trailheads. The trails are often easy to follow, but several are rigorous and difficult.

Crowds from the Salt Lake City area flood into here, especially on weekends.

Mount Olympus Wilderness area has about 20 system trails totaling approximately 42 miles.

The Big Cottonwood side of the Wilderness is within the Salt Lake City Watershed and has restrictions on dogs, horses and swimming.

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 Olympus 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 Olympus 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: 16,000 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 117-328

Date: December 29, 2022
Acreage: -197 acres

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 - Making consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023, and for providing emergency assistance for the situation in Ukraine, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 117-328

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.