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.

Kiamichi is derived from the French word for "waterbird." You'll find groves of beech along the Kiamichi's headwaters, giving way to a dense forest of pine and hardwoods.

Long ridges called Pine Mountain and Rich Mountain, with a high point of approximately 2,600 feet, shelter this Wilderness. The ridges are steep and the valleys below are relatively flat but narrow. In several places the ridges are broken by rock flows or "glaciers." Several creeks drain the area, often creating miniature and picturesque waterfalls.

On the northern boundary runs the Talimena Scenic Byway (Oklahoma Highway 1) with over looks of the area. The Arkansas state line forms the eastern boundary. The western boundary lies along the Kiamichi Electric powerline, and the southwestern boundary begins at a parking lot on Pashubbe Creek where the Ouachita National Recreation Trail has a trailhead.

Oklahoma holds a total of about 57 miles of the Ouachita Trail. Stretching nearly 200 miles from Talihina, Oklahoma, to Little Rock, Arkansas, the trail follows the Upper Kiamichi River all the way across the Wilderness to a second trailhead at Stateline Monument. The Ouachita is the only maintained trail in the area; it crosses through the river several times, so you should plan on getting your feet wet. The Wilderness may be accessed off State Highway 63 near the southern boundary, and there is a parking lot near the southeastern corner where Horsepen Creek flows out of the area.

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 Kiamichi River 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 Kiamichi River Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Oklahoma 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 100-499

Date: October 18, 1988
Acreage: 9,371 acres

Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation and Wilderness Area Act - Public law 100-499 (10/18/1988) To designate certain National Forest System lands in the State of Oklahoma for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, creating the Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation and Wilderness Area, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 100-499 or special provisions for 100-499 or legislative history for 100-499.

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.