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.

Only 30 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada, Mount Wilson Wilderness encompasses eight miles of Wilson Ridge, which rises from nearly 2,000 feet in the eastern portion of the Wilderness to its summit on Mount Wilson at 5,445 feet in the northwest corner.

Approaching this area from U.S. 93, you'll see a stark and forbidding landscape, a harsh and seemingly waterless countryside. Looks, however, can be deceiving, as the area hides several dependable year-round springs that support wildlife, including more than 100 desert bighorn sheep.

The high country along Wilson Ridge rises in places to more than 3,000 feet above the desert floor, providing eye-stretching views over Lake Mead and the colored cliffs, badlands, mountains, and deserts in the distance.

Creosote bush, white bursage, Mojave yucca, bunchgrasses, cholla, pricklypear cactus, catclaw acacia, and desert baccharis cover the area.

The Wilderness is almost completely surrounded by Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which is administered by the National Park Service.

Two primitive, two-trail trails provide access to the area. The Cabin Site Access ventures 4 miles into the Wilderness and the Missouri Spring Access, 3.1 miles. No other trails are present, although sometimes burrow and sheep trails can be located and followed.

Daytime temperatures during the summer months often exceed 100 degrees. Temperatures are more moderate between October 1 and April 30.

Backpackers will find many primitive campsites.

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 Wilson 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

The Mount Wilson Wilderness is located in Mohave County, Arizona, approximately 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada and 60 miles northwest of Kingman, Arizona.

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 Wilson Wilderness
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 101-628

Date: November 28, 1990
Acreage: 23,600 acres

Arizona Desert Wilderness Act of 1990 - Public law 101-628 (11/28/1990) To provide for the designation of certain public lands as wilderness in the State of Arizona

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 101-628 or special provisions for 101-628 or legislative history for 101-628.

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.