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.

Here you'll be among the headwaters of the extraordinarily pretty Buffalo National River, which flows down the center of this Wilderness through a rough forested land of steep slopes that descend into deep valleys. People once made their homes down in the valleys, but the last resident moved out in 1948. However, you'll see their old homes, stone fences surrounding pastures, antiquated farm equipment, worn-out roads, and silent cemeteries. The area offers a measure of wildness and solitude not often found in Arkansas. The interior of the Upper Buffalo is so remote the quality of its rich water supply, in runs and runnels and rivulets, is classified as excellent. (No matter how clear the water looks, you would be wise to purify it before drinking.) Squirrels are everywhere in the Upper Buffalo, and squirrel hunters report their success runs from good to superior, perhaps better than anywhere else in the southern United States. White-tailed deer, wild turkeys, and black bears are the largest resident species, with a fair number of smaller animals including foxes, raccoons, minks, beavers, skunks, opossums, bobcats, and woodchucks. White oaks, red oaks, and hickory populate the forest. The summer climate is known to be hot and humid. A few people choose to visit the Upper Buffalo in winter when January temperatures may drop below zero. During the cold months, ice encrusts a number of small waterfalls and hangs in frozen drips from overhangs, and a cold peace settles on the land. No matter what the season, you'll have to find your way through the area without the assistance of maintained trails.

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 Upper Buffalo 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 Upper Buffalo Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Arkansas 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 93-622

Date: January 3, 1975
Acreage: 10,590 acres

(Known as the Eastern Wilderness Areas Act) - Public law 93-622 (1/3/1975) To further the purposes of the Wilderness Act by designating certain acquired lands for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, to provide for study of certain additional lands for such inclusion, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 93-622 or special provisions for 93-622 or legislative history for 93-622.

Public Law 98-508

Date: October 19, 1984
Acreage: 1,504 acres

Arkansas Wilderness Act of 1984 (Dale Bumpers Wilderness Resources Protection Act) - Public law 98-508 (10/19/1984) To designate certain national forest system lands in the State of Arkansas 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 98-508 or special provisions for 98-508 or legislative history for 98-508.

Public Law 105-245

Date: October 7, 1998
Acreage: 0 acres

Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 1999 - Public Law 105-245 (10/7/1998) Dale Bumpers Wilderness Resources Protection Act of 1998

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 105-245 or special provisions for 105-245 or legislative history for 105-245.

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.