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.

East of Reedsport, Oregon, the Devil's Staircase Wilderness comprises some of the last remaining old-growth forest in the Oregon Coast Range.

This remote and inaccessible place truly meets the definition of wild – there are no trails here or designated access points.

Instead, it is reserved as an important refuge for wildlife, including the federally threatened northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet which can find prime habitat here and few other places in Oregon.

Highly unstable soil and steep slopes here have prevented the area from being logged; in the 1970s the Forest Service determined much of the area was unsuitable for timber production. Today, this remnant Coast Range old-growth forest contains large Douglas-fir, cedar, and hemlock trees.

Through the center of the Wilderness flows Wassen Creek, which was designated as a Wild and Scenic River at the same time the wilderness was designated by Congress. The creek provides important habitat for native coho and chinook salmon, trout, and steelhead.

The Wilderness’s namesake, Devil's Staircase, is a low cascading waterfall, where the stream tumbles over sandstone outcroppings whose beauty belies its more ominous-sounding name. Franklin Creek, another Wild and Scenic River, also flows through the Wilderness on its way to the Umpqua River.

This is a pristine place, where the wildlife making their home here are rarely disturbed by human visitation. Those who do attempt to penetrate this Wilderness will find challenging conditions and extremely difficult navigation (don’t depend on GPS). This Wilderness is not for the faint of heart.

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 Devil's Staircase 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 Devil's Staircase Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Oregon 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 116-9

Date: March 12, 2019
Acreage: 31,000 acres

John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act - Public law 116-9 (3/12/2019) To provide for the management of the natural resources of the United States, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 116-9 or special provisions for 116-9 or legislative history for 116-9.

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.