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 birthplace of Smokey the Bear, discovered here as a cub in 1951, is a rugged piece of mountain real estate that straddles something that's unusual in New Mexico: an east-west-running range. Numerous canyons cut into the north side of the rocky range, while rocky outcroppings distinguish the region to the south. The terrain flattens now and then along the main ridge, and then opens out into meadows and groves of aspen.

The Wilderness measures 12 miles long and two to six miles wide, with elevations varying from about 5,500 feet near the eastern boundary to 10,083 feet on Capitan Peak (sometimes called El Capitan Mountain). At the lower elevations, pinion and juniper woodland flourishes, with ponderosa pine making an appearance midslope, followed by mixed conifers (Douglas fir, Engelmann spruce, corkbark fir, and pine) on the main ridge.

The original Smokey, the world-famous symbol of forest fire prevention, lies buried in nearby Capitan, but plenty of his kinfolk still reside in these woods.

Other denizens include large populations of mule deer and wild turkey, both of which attract hunters in the fall (as do the black bears). Anglers can try to catch small brook trout at Pine Lodge, Copeland Canyon, Kelly Canyon, and Seven Cabins Canyon.

Of the dozen or so hikes in the Wilderness, 8.2-mile Summit Trail follows the main ridge and probably offers some of the best views. Foot traffic is usually heaviest on the Capitan Peak Trail, which takes 5.7 miles of steep switchbacks to reach El Capitan's summit.

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 Capitan Mountains 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 Capitan Mountains Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
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 96-550

Date: December 19, 1980
Acreage: 34,000 acres

New Mexico Wilderness Act - Public law 96-550 (12/19/1980) To designate certain National Forest System lands in the state of New Mexico 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 96-550 or special provisions for 96-550 or legislative history for 96-550.

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.