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.

The Weepah Spring Wilderness is an excellent unspoiled example of mountain ranges representative of the Great Basin. Rising from 4,600 to 8,605 feet, Weepah Springs Wilderness lacks a single defined ridgeline. The complex geology of the area forms a confused landscape: isolated peaks, maze-like canyons, walls of fossil bearing rocks, natural arches and odd volcanic hoodoos. Add to this the oddity of the largest stand of ponderosa pine in eastern Nevada and 4,000 year old rock art. Although most stands of ponderosa in eastern Nevada are relic stands, this one is unique because active regeneration is obvious. You can enounter young saplings growing next to trees over three feet in diameter. Other common plant types include pinyon-juniper, sagebrush, and prickly pear cactus. Common wildlife includes mountain lions, bobcats, deer, desert bighorn sheep, kit foxes, coyotes and raptors, as well as smaller common mammal and reptile species. Skull Arch, a popular destination, lies on the eastern side of the Wilderness. The White River Narrows Archaeological District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, represents one of the largest and most well-known petroglyph concentrations in the state.

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 Weepah Spring 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

The Weepah Spring Wilderness is located in the Seaman Range of northwestern Lincoln County near the Nye County line. It is approximately 90 miles south of Ely and 35 miles north of Alamo.
Access to this wilderness is north on state highway 318 from Hiko, Nevada approximately 25 miles.

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 Weepah Spring Wilderness
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 108-424

Date: November 30, 2004
Acreage: 51,480 acres

Lincoln County Conservation, Recreation, and Development Act of 2004 - Public law 108-424 (11/30/2004) To establish wilderness areas, promote conservation, improve public land, and provide for the high quality development in Lincoln County, Nevada, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 108-424 or special provisions for 108-424 or legislative history for 108-424.

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.