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.

Many are the mysteries of the Boulder River Wilderness. Less than 25 miles from Puget Sound, as the marbled murrellet flies, rise the crags and soggy forests of this Wilderness.

With elevations ranging from 700 feet to nearly 7,000 feet these mountains are the initial wringers to wet winter storms blasting through the Straits of Juan de Fuca from the North Pacific. The hills have been sliced by glaciers past, vigorous streams continue to cut the mountains down to size.

Creeks tumbling thousands of feet from the glaciers of Whitehorse and Three Fingers create scenic waterfalls into the dense woods of hemlock, Douglas Fir and cedar. Feature Show Falls along the Boulder River Trail may be the most accessible and best known; it drops 200 feet from the base of Mt. Ditney directly into the Boulder River.

Steep granite walls, a veritable little Yosemite, are tucked among the ridges on the east side of the Wilderness and provide some of the finest rock climbing in the Cascades, for those in the know.

Wildlife, while shy of humans, is common in the area. Mountain goats and black bear can be seen on the slopes of Whitehorse Mountain for those who patiently watch. Black Swifts, kestrels, and larger hawks patrol the skies searching for a size appropriate meal.

While Three Fingers Mountain is prominent on the skyline from Interstate 5, it remains elusive. Difficult road and trail access makes it a stiff 2 day hike to the lookout cabin on its summit. The historic lookout was built in 1932 after the summit spire was levelled by former Ranger Harold Engles. Volunteers now maintain the historic building which has a vertiginous series of ladders ascending rock cliffs on the west and a 4,000 foot cliff out the back window of the lookout to the valley of Clear Creek far below.

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 Boulder 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 Boulder River 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: 49,000 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.