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 Elkhorn Ridge Wilderness contains rugged Coast Range ridges covered with thick forests of redwood, Douglas-fir, and tan-oak.

There are two major forest types encompassing the area; the mixed evergreen forest and the redwood forest. Late-successional and old-growth stands of Douglas-fir are scattered throughout the area. Chaparral communities are found mainly on south-facing slopes and ridgetops.

A seven-mile-long segment of the South Fork Eel Wild and Scenic River flows through and bisects the Wilderness area.

Notable wildlife species include the federally-threatened northern spotted owl and other old-growth forest related species, the federally-endangered bald eagle and peregrine falcon.

Anadromous fish species such as Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead utilize the South Fork Eel River and its tributaries as rearing and spawning grounds.

Although this area was created under the 2006 Northern California Coastals Wild Heritage Wilderness Act, the Act required that the area be designated as wilderness once conditions on these acres were restored and were compatible with the Wilderness Act, or no later than five years after the Act’s passage.

After this five-year interrim period, the BLM determined no additional restoration was necessary, as the area had naturally rehabilitated itself during that time.

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 Elkhorn Ridge 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 Elkhorn Ridge Wilderness is approximately 60 miles north of Ukiah, just west of U. S. Highway 101. Access to the wilderness area is from U.S. Highway 101 at Laytonville, west on Branscomb Road, then along Jack of Hearts Road, and right on Elkhorn Ridge Road.

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 Elkhorn Ridge Wilderness
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 109-362

Date: October 17, 2006
Acreage: 11,271 acres

Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act - Public law 109-362 (10/17/2006) To designate certain National Forest System lands in the Mendocino and Six Rivers National Forests and certain Bureau of Land Management lands in Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, and Napa Counties in the State of California as wilderness, to designate the Elkhorn Ridge Potential Wilderness Area, to designate certain segments of the Black Butte River in Mendocino County, California as a wild or scenic river, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 109-362 or special provisions for 109-362 or legislative history for 109-362.

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.