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.

Arizona is well known for its red rock formations, conjuring up images of magnificent crimson outcroppings set against azure skies. Munds Mountain Wilderness is home to many of these ruggedly beautiful specimens, along with several traditional high mesas common to central Arizona.

Elevations on the mountain itself range from 3,600 feet to 6,825 feet, and moderate to steep slopes climb all along the Mogollon Rim.

Cliff faces are marked with extensive outcroppings of Coconino and Supai sandstone, and ramp basalt flows everywhere.

Among the area's most picturesque landmarks are Courthouse Butte and magical Bell Rock. Along Horse Mesa are Jacks Canyon and Wood Canyon, both of which have outstanding riparian habitats.

Desert sagebrush, desert grass and short grass plains, oak brush, chaparral, oak woodlands, and pinion-juniper woodlands fill the terrain.

Visitors will encounter pools of water to dip in, rocks to climb, birds to track in the skies, some fine desert backpacking, and a slew of fantastic photo opportunities.

Relatively easily accessed from Flagstaff, the Wilderness's trails attract many recreationists. Two of them, the Hot Loop Trail and the Jacks Canyon Trail, veer away from crowded areas and lead to spectacular sights. Hot Loop climbs six miles to the top of Horse Mesa, while Jacks Canyon ventures 4.3 miles to a narrow saddle, where it joins the Munds Mountain Trail.

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 Munds Mountain 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 Munds Mountain 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 98-406

Date: August 28, 1984
Acreage: 18,150 acres

Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public Law 98-406 (8/28/1984) Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-406 or special provisions for 98-406 or legislative history for 98-406.

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.