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.

Located in the southeastern corner of the White Mountains, the bold peaks and long ridgelines of the Sandwich Range form a rugged series of valleys, glacial cirques, and high mountain passes. The terrain is broken by steep, boulder-strewn streams tumbling over cascades and through calm pools. Dense spruce-fir vegetation dominates at upper elevations, with northern hardwoods on the lower slopes and valley bottoms. Flat Mountain and Black Mountain Ponds attract moose and other pond-loving wildlife, while peregrine falcons nest on the steep cliff face of Square Ledge. Several hiking trails access the range, and approximately 57 miles of these typically steep and direct routes are within the Wilderness itself. Many of these trails date to the turn of the century (the last century!) and provide visitors a direct connection to the long recreation history of the area.

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 Sandwich Range 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 Sandwich Range Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

New Hampshire 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 98-323

Date: June 19, 1984
Acreage: 25,000 acres

New Hampshire Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public law 98-323 (6/19/1984) To establish wilderness areas in New Hampshire, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-323 or legislative history for 98-323.

Public Law 109-382

Date: December 1, 2006
Acreage: 10,800 acres

New England Wilderness Act of 2006 - Public law 109-382 (12/1/2006) To designate certain land in New England as wilderness for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation system and certain land as a National Recreation Area, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 109-382 or special provisions for 109-382 or legislative history for 109-382.

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.