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 Sierra Estrella Wilderness, which includes roughly one-fourth of the Sierra Estrella Mountains, is 15 miles south of the metropolitan Phoenix and east of Rainbow Valley, Arizona. Bordered entirely on the north and east by the Gila Indian Reservation, the wilderness is only accessible from its western boundary. It contains knife-edged ridge-lines, steep slopes, and rocky canyons, one of the most rugged mountainous areas of Arizona. In the northeast corner, Butterfly Mountain rises 2,600 feet above the desert plain to an elevation of 4,119 feet in only two miles, a challenge for backpackers and climbers. These extreme elevation changes have produced diverse plant communities. Down lower you will find saguaro, cholla, ocotillo, paloverde, and elephant bush while higher elevations support shrub live oak and a few junipers. A remnant herd of desert bighorn sheep roams these mountains. Other permanent residents include the Gila monster, giant spotted whiptail lizard, desert tortoise, mountain lion, mule deer, coyote, javelina, golden eagle, prairie falcon, and Cooper's hawk. This area receives 8.5 inches of precipitation annually with temperatures ranging from 82.9 to 107.4 degrees Fahrenheit in July and from 43.7 to 67.6 degrees in December. Spring and fall temperatures are more moderate.

Though Sierra Estrella is not far from Phoenix, it is remote and a four-wheel-drive vehicle is required to reach the two public-access points. Along the way you'll cross some extremely sandy, deep washes. Primitive two-track trails near the Wilderness boundary are sandy or silty and wash crossings are rugged and deep. Old mining activity is present in areas. The Quartz Peak Trail accesses the summit of Sierra Estrella. In total, there are 2.5 miles of maintained trails in this wilderness.

Leave No Trace

Leave the area as you would like to find it. Pack out all trash; do not bury it, as animals will dig it up after you leave. Dogs disturb wildlife and other visitors; if you bring a dog, keep it under control at all times. If you need a fire, keep it small and away from rock outcrops. If you build a fire ring, please dismantle it when you are through and bury the ashes before leaving the area. Cigarette butts, pull-tabs, orange peels, etc. are all liter. PACK IT IN - PACK IT OUT.

Location

Take Interstate 10 to exit 126 and travel south on the Estrella Parkway for 8.3 miles, take Elliot Road west for 2.6 miles turning left on Rainbow Valley Road for 9.4 miles. Turn left going east on Riggs Road for 4 miles to Bullard Avenue. Cross the road (jogging just a little south) and continue east, following the unsigned dirt road that parallels the power lines. Proceed 5.3 miles east, then turn south at the "T" intersection, where a small sign indicates the direction to an unnamed trail. Proceed south two miles, then turn east on another unsigned dirt road. Follow it 1.9 miles to the trailhead. Only the western boundary of the wilderness is accessible to the public. Due to land ownership patterns, legal access is not assured.

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 Sierra Estrella Wilderness
Google Earth

Arizona 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 101-628

Date: November 28, 1990
Acreage: 14,500 acres

Arizona Desert Wilderness Act of 1990 - Public law 101-628 (11/28/1990) To provide for the designation of certain public lands as wilderness in the State of Arizona

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 101-628 or special provisions for 101-628 or legislative history for 101-628.

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.