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.

Encompassing the drainages of Willow Creek and Salmon Creek, Silver Peak Wilderness rises sharply from near the shore of the Pacific Ocean, an area of steep terrain that's part of the Santa Lucia Mountains. Silver Peak lifts to 3,590 feet in the northwestern section.

Lush vegetation along the creeks, fern-covered canyons, grass and oak-dotted meadows, and heavy timber are some of the area's features. The Wilderness hides the world's southernmost stand of redwoods, an isolated grove of coastal redwoods. Also hidden here is a grove of rare Sargent cypress, gray pines, and Santa Lucia fir. Waterfalls brighten some of the streams in spring.

From the higher country, on a clear day, you can see the Big Sur coastline to the north, the Pacific Ocean rolling restlessly to the west, and the Salinas Valley to the east.

You may spot deer and squirrels, rabbits and raccoons, and perhaps hear a gobble from a wild turkey.

Trails require moderate to strenuous exercise. The most popular pathway follows Salmon Creek for about 3.5 miles and offers a great view of Salmon Creek Falls. From Salmon Creek, you can take the trail leading to Spruce Creek (two miles) or other trails climbing north across the Wilderness.

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 Silver Peak 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 Silver Peak Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

California 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 102-301

Date: June 19, 1992
Acreage: 14,500 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: 17,055 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.

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.