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.

One of five Wilderness areas near Mount Rainier National Park, the Tatoosh Wilderness Area shares a portion of the park's southern boundary.

Tatoosh Ridge, a long, formidably rugged ridge, runs north-south out of the park to cross the Wilderness near the middle. On the eastern side of the area, you will find the southern end of another rocky spine, Backbone Ridge, which also hails from the park.

Numerous streams cascade off the ridges into the Muddy Fork of the Cowlitz River or into Butter Creek, both of which funnel down to the Cowlitz River south of the Wilderness.

Deer and elk winter along the Muddy Fork, then wander into the higher country in warmer seasons. Black bears may be seen foraging in the forest of hemlock, fir, and red cedar, and mountain goats scramble along the upper elevations, which top out at the 6,310-foot Tatoosh Lookout.

About 25 feet of snow falls on Tatoosh Ridge during the winter, dusting a half-dozen small lakes (including three that thoroughly satisfy the meaning of "tiny").

The 8.6-mile Tatoosh Trail climbs wickedly steep up Tatoosh Ridge but then mellows out substantially for a long descent off the ridge top and down through subalpine meadows abounding with summer wildflowers. The view of Mount Rainier to the north is breathtaking. Side trails will take you to Tatoosh Lakes and the historic Tatoosh Lookout.

Camping, fires, and stock are not allowed beside the fragile Wilderness lakes within the Tatoosh Lakes Basin.

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 Tatoosh 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 Tatoosh Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Washington 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 98-339

Date: July 3, 1984
Acreage: 15,720 acres

Washington State Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public law 98-339 (7/3/1984) To designate certain National Forest System lands in the State of Washington for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-339 or special provisions for 98-339 or legislative history for 98-339.

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.