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.

Rich Hole Wilderness consists primarily of Brushy Mountain and portions of Mill Mountain with their drainages, the North Branch of Simpson Creek and Alum Creek.

The area exhibits a mature hardwood ecosystem with large old hemlocks in the drainage bottoms, and chestnut oaks and yellow pines on the south-facing slopes.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s iron ore was mined from some of the hillsides in this area, and trees were cut to make charcoal for the iron ore furnaces. Traces of this activity, including an old mountain homestead with a small orchard, remain today in Rich Hole Wilderness.

The six-mile Rich Hole Trail (FT # 464) passes through the southern half of the Wilderness, most of it along the North Branch of Simpson Creek. Trail information is available on National Geographic-Trails Illustrated Map # 788 (Covington-Alleghany Highlands).

Rich Hole Wilderness includes the 1,336 acre Rich Hole National Natural Landmark (NNL), an example of mature southern Appalachian cove hardwood forest.

A major wildfire burned in the Wilderness and adjacent lands in April 2012. Visible evidence of the effects of this fire are evident throughout the Wilderness.

Rich Hole Wilderness is managed by the U.S. Forest Service as a part of the James River Ranger District of the George Washington & Jefferson National Forests.

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 Rich Hole 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 Rich Hole Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Virginia 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 100-326

Date: June 7, 1988
Acreage: 6,450 acres

(No official title, designates Virginia wildernesses) - Public law 100-326 (6/7/1988) To designate certain national forest system lands in the States of Virgina and West Virginia as wilderness areas

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 100-326 or legislative history for 100-326.

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.