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.

Located on the southern edge of Ouachita National Forest, Caney Creek Wilderness protects a rugged and lovely portion of the Ouachita Mountains.

From heights above 2,000 feet in the east, Short Creek and Caney Creek flow all the way across the area before plunging into the Cossatot River on the western boundary. Along the creeks you'll find beech, large pines, and bottomland hardwoods. Sharp ridges separate the creeks and offer splendid views of the surrounding region.

Occasional sandstone outcroppings dot the landscape.

The Caney Creek Trail is 9.6 miles and generally follows Caney Creek, crossing it 13 times. As the terrain grows steeper hiking on the path becomes more difficult. Parking lots give access to both ends of the trail.

The 4.7 mile Buckeye Trail starts at a third parking lot, climbs Buckeye Mountain, and follows a ridge before dropping to join Caney Creek.

Traveling a distance of 3.2 miles one-way, the Tall Peak Trail leaves Shady Lake Campground, outside the southeastern Wilderness boundary, and climbs Tall Peak, inside the Wilderness, where a restored lookout tower stands.

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 Caney Creek 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 Caney Creek Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Arkansas 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 93-622

Date: January 3, 1975
Acreage: 14,433 acres

(Known as the Eastern Wilderness Areas Act) - Public law 93-622 (1/3/1975) To further the purposes of the Wilderness Act by designating certain acquired lands for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, to provide for study of certain additional lands for such inclusion, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 93-622 or special provisions for 93-622 or legislative history for 93-622.

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.