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.

On a quiet day in November you'll hear the haunting cry of sandhill cranes echoing across the marsh and grasslands of 57,191-acre Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Amazing to think that in 1939, when the refuge was established, the crane count averaged a sobering 17. That figure has since soared to 12,000. Add to that impressive tally 70,000 snow geese, 40,000-plus ducks (at least 14 species), Canada geese, Gambel's quail, roadrunners, and more than 300 other winged species and banner birding is a given.

However, Bosque del Apache isn't just for the birds. Other residents included mule deer, coyotes, javelina, and western diamondback rattlesnakes. The refuge, is split in two by the hushed flow of the Rio Grande.

The Bosque del Apache Wilderness, found within the National Wildlife Refuge, is split into three distinct units. They are the 5,429-acre Chupadera Unit, all refuge land west of Interstate 25; the 5,139-acre Indian Well Unit, just across the interstate from the Chupadera Unit; and the Little San Pascual Unit, which covers 19,859 acres just east of the Rio Grande.

The three Wilderness units hold in common a lack of water, but otherwise offer distinctive terrains. Arroyos divide the Chupadera's series of small ridges and mesas, while Indian Well has round mountains along its western side and arroyos and mesas on its gentler eastern side. The largest unit rolls gently across desert terrain, sharpening to a peak at Little San Pascual Mountain.

Day hiking is allowed, however camping and camp fires are not permitted.

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 Bosque del Apache 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

Chupadera Peak, Indian Wells, and Little San Pascual Wilderness Areas are all located on Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, approximately 16 miles south of Socorro, New Mexico. To get here, travel approximately 8 miles south of Socorro on I-25. Take Exit 139 and travel east on Hwy 380 to San Antonio. Turn south on Hwy 1 approximately 8 miles to the Refuge Visitor Center. There you can recieve information and directions on how to access the Wilderness Areas and Refuge Regulations.

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 Bosque del Apache Wilderness
Google Earth

New Mexico 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 93-632

Date: January 3, 1975
Acreage: 30,850 acres

(No official title, designates Fish and Wildlife Service wildernesses) - Public law 93-632 (1/3/1975) Designation of wilderness areas within the National Widlife Refuge System

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 93-632 or legislative history for 93-632.

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.