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.

The Scapegoat Wilderness is part of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. Located in Northwestern Montana on both sides of the Continental Divide, this large complex includes three Wilderness areas: the Great Bear, the Scapegoat, and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Together the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex makes up an area of more than 1.5 million acres, the third largest in the lower 48 states. Grizzly bear, lynx, wolverine, deer, elk, gray wolf, moose, black bear, mountain lion, mountain goat, and mountain sheep roam about these rugged ridge tops, gently sloping alpine meadows, thickly forested river bottoms and open grass parks. Across this continuous landscape over 1700 miles of trail provide challenges and experiences to satisfy visitors with a wide range of skills. The Scapegoat Wilderness was designated in 1972 at 239,936 acres following a grassroots community effort, an early example of a citizen-initiated wilderness area. The Scapegoat's acreage is split between the Helena-Lewis and Clark and Lolo National Forests. It contains approximately 320 miles of system trail. The Scapegoat Wilderness is dominated by the massive limestone cliffs of the 9,204-foot Scapegoat Mountain that extends south from the Bob Marshall's Chinese Wall. Elevations range from 5,000 feet on the North Fork of the Blackfoot River to 9,400 feet on Red Mountain, the highest peak in the Complex. The Scapegoat Wilderness is approximately 32 miles long and ranges from four to 24 miles in width. The Scapegoat includes the headwaters of the Dearborn River, South Fork of the Sun River, and Landers Fork of the Blackfoot River on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, and the North Fork of the Blackfoot River on the Lolo National Forest.

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 Scapegoat 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 Scapegoat Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Montana 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 92-395

Date: August 20, 1972
Acreage: 240,000 acres

(No official title, designates Scapegoat Wilderness) - Public law 92-395 (8/20/1972) To designate the Scapegoat Wilderness, Helena, Lolo, and Lewis and Clark National Forests, in the State of Montana

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 92-395 or legislative history for 92-395.

Public Law 113-291

Date: December 19, 2014
Acreage: 16,711 acres

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 - Public law 113-291 (12/19/2014) To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2015 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 113-291 or special provisions for 113-291 or legislative history for 113-291.

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.