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.

Unique among designated areas, San Jacinto Wilderness, managed by the USFS, lies split in half by the Mount San Jacinto State Park and Wilderness, which is managed by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. The Boundaries embrace the grand San Jacinto Mountains (elevations from 6,000 feet to 10,000 feet), and the flora and fauna varies from desert to alpine. Steep cliffs and ridges descend dramatically from pine-covered peaks in the northern half of the Wilderness. In the central section, high mountain plateaus shelter lush, stream-splashed meadows surrounded by magnificent forests. In the south, a section known as the Desert Divide lies densely covered with stands of chaparral. On this divide's eastern flank, you'll find several deep, eroded, boulder-strewn desert canyons. Near the center of the Wilderness, two exceptional rock-climbing areas exist: Lily (Tahquitz) Rock, with sustained routes of up to 1,000 feet, and Suicide Rock, with routes up to 400 feet. There are 48 miles of trails in the San Jacinto Wilderness including 28 miles of the Pacific Crest 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 San Jacinto 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 San Jacinto Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

California 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 88-577

Date: September 3, 1964
Acreage: 20,565 acres

The Wilderness Act - Public law 88-577 (9/3/1964) To establish a National Wilderness Preservation System for the permanent good of the whole people, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 88-577 or special provisions for 88-577 or legislative history for 88-577.

Public Law 98-425

Date: September 28, 1984
Acreage: 10,900 acres

California Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public Law 98-425 (9/28/1984) California Wilderness Act of 1984

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-425 or special provisions for 98-425 or legislative history for 98-425.

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.