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.

A unique high plateau, or tableland, distinguishes this Wilderness.

This rolling, semiforested region attracts hikers and especially horsepackers.

The Monitor Range, in which Table Mountain stands, rises above 10,000 feet and provides a home for one of the largest mule deer herds in the state. A well-established elk herd introduced in 1979 adds incentive for hunters. Five major streams attract anglers seeking trout.

Large stands of aspen over much of the mountainsides are unusual in this region of central Nevada. Some of the aspens are carved with dates dating back as early as 1907 and well-preserved samples of Basque sheepherder art.

The Barley Creek Trail, entering from the south, is the most used access. After five miles of hiking, you can take a steep one-mile side trail to the top of Table Mountain. Before you get to the side trail you'll pass alongside beaver ponds with good fishing. From where the Barley Creek Trail splits the west fork will take you to Dry Lake and all the way across the Wilderness to the Morgan Creek Trailhead on the north end, for a total walking distance of about 20 miles. Other trailheads can be accessed at Mosquito Creek on the west side, Clear Creek (which goes to Clear Lake) on the east side, and Green Monster Canyon on the east side.

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 Table Mountain 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 Table Mountain Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Nevada 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 101-195

Date: December 5, 1989
Acreage: 98,000 acres

Nevada Wilderness Protection Act - Public law 101-195 (12/5/1989) To designate certain lands in the State of Nevada as wilderness, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 101-195 or special provisions for 101-195 or legislative history for 101-195.

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.