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.

Skirting more than 50 miles of Canada's border and encompassing the crest of the Cascades, this big piece of very wild country is home to the largest population of lynx in the Lower 48.

The Wilderness boasts almost 150 peaks over 7,500 feet in elevation, 160 or more bodies of water, and at least as many waterways, some fierce enough to have carved incisive canyons with sheer walls. Rugged ridges in the west flatten into park-like plateaus toward the east, with deep drainages on both sides.

Its diverse forest changes from vegetation typical of western Washington (fir, cedar, western hemlock) to growth typical of eastern Washington (fir, pine, larch).

Deer, moose, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, the fabled gray wolf, and the intimidating grizzly bear steal through these woods.

Snow falls between October and May, and the hardpack may block the high western-side trails sometimes until early August. Eastern-side trails are usually free of snow by early July. Although part of the Wilderness lies in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, the largest section (and its management) falls within the boundaries of Okanogan National Forest.

More than 600 miles of trails provide access to the Wilderness, many of them deceptively gentle at the start and progressively labor-intensive as they crawl up endless switchbacks into the higher country. The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) crosses the area north-south for about 32 miles. The Boundary Trail moves north from the southeast corner to ramble near the Canadian border for a total of more than 73 miles (making it the longest route in the Wilderness) before eventually joining the PCT.

A Recreation Pass is required at some trailheads accessing the Pasayten Wilderness.

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 Pasayten 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 Pasayten Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Washington 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 90-544

Date: October 2, 1968
Acreage: 500,000 acres

(No official title, designates Pasayten Wilderness) - Public law 90-544 (10/2/1968) To establish the North Cascades National Park and Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreational Areas, to designate the Pasayten Wilderness and to modify the Glacier Peak Wilderness, in the State of Washington, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 90-544 or legislative history for 90-544.

Public Law 98-339

Date: July 3, 1984
Acreage: 24,326 acres

Washington State Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public law 98-339 (7/3/1984) To designate certain National Forest System lands in the State of Washington for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-339 or special provisions for 98-339 or legislative history for 98-339.

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.