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.

Thickets of willow and brush line the banks of Black Canyon Creek, which drops from 6,483 feet to 2,850 feet as it drains the Black Canyon Wilderness easterly into the South Fork John Day River.

Cliffs line the creek's winding lower gorge. North-south ridges and steep side slopes along the waterway defer to rolling and then flat benches on the Wilderness edges. Dry sagebrush covers these exposed ridge tops as well as the lowlands, with a dense forest of mixed conifers (fir and pine), including park-like stands of ponderosa pine, flourishing in between.

Elk and deer graze openly year-round, with black bears, coyotes, and mountain lions spotted less often. If you visit in summer, beware the danger of rattlesnakes.

Snow falls by mid-November and usually melts by April, with access sometimes blocked by the fluffy white stuff well into May. Summer months typically tend to be hot and dry.

The 12-mile Black Canyon Trail cuts through a narrow gorge, requiring hikers to cross rushing water at least a dozen times. Prepare for wet feet, and expect to find the creek unfordable at high water, usually January through March. Three short side trails join the Black Canyon Trail.

Cross-country hiking on the ridges rates is relatively easy (and dry). A large piece of undesignated wildland lies to the north. Opportunities for solitude are splendid, with approximately 18 miles of trails.

There have been two large wildfire incidents in the last decade, which encompasse most of the Wilderness. Both fires were of high intensity and primarily stand replacement in character. This has contributed to many downed trees and with little trail maintenance resources, visitors should expect to encounter many downed trees and brush covering segments of 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 Black Canyon 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 Black Canyon Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Oregon 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 98-328

Date: June 26, 1984
Acreage: 13,400 acres

Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public law 98-328 (6/26/1984) To designate certain national forest system lands in the State of Oregon 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 98-328 or special provisions for 98-328 or legislative history for 98-328.

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.