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.

Shawvers Run Wilderness is an area of rugged and remote mountain terrain on the northwestern slope of Potts Mountain, just over the hill from Barbours Creek Wilderness.

Elevations range from 2,000 feet on Shawvers Run (stream) in the north to 3,800 feet on the top of Hanging Rock, in the south.

The Wilderness is comprised of hardwood forest interspersed with yellow pine, and white pine growing in some of the drainages.

The headwaters of Valley Branch contain native brook trout, as does Shawvers Run.

There is little trail access to Shawvers Run Wilderness: 0.7 miles of trail to Hanging Rock overlook. Information is available on National Geographic-Trails Illustrated Map # 788 (Covington-Alleghany Highlands).

Shawvers Run Wilderness is located in Craig County in southwest Virginia. It is managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Eastern Divide 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 Shawvers Run 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 Shawvers Run 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: 3,665 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.

Public Law 111-11

Date: March 30, 2009
Acreage: 2,219 acres

Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 - Public law 111-11 (3/30/2009) An act to designate certain land as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, to authorize certain programs and activities in the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 111-11 or special provisions for 111-11 or legislative history for 111-11.

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.