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.

Applicable Wilderness Law(s)

Public Law 91-58

Date: August 18, 1969
Acreage: 98,000 acres

(No official title, designates Ventana Wilderness) - Public law 91-58 (8/18/1969) To designate the Ventana Wilderness, Los Padres National Forest, in the State of California

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 91-58 or legislative history for 91-58.

Public Law 95-237

Date: February 24, 1978
Acreage: 61,000 acres

Endangered American Wilderness Act - Public law 95-237 (2/24/1978) To designate certain endangered public lands for preservation as wilderness, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 95-237 or special provisions for 95-237 or legislative history for 95-237.

Public Law 98-425

Date: September 28, 1984
Acreage: 2,750 acres

California Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public Law 98-425 (9/28/1984) California Wilderness Act of 1984

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-425 or special provisions for 98-425 or legislative history for 98-425.

Public Law 102-301

Date: June 19, 1992
Acreage: 38,000 acres

Los Padres Condor Range and River Protection Act - Public law 102-301 (6/19/1992) Entitled the "Los Padres Condor Range and River Protection Act"

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 102-301 or special provisions for 102-301 or legislative history for 102-301.

Public Law 107-370

Date: December 19, 2002
Acreage: 37,110 acres

Big Sur Wilderness and Conservation Act of 2002 - Public law 107-370 (12/19/2002) To designate certain lands in the State of California as components of 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 107-370 or special provisions for 107-370 or legislative history for 107-370.