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.

Rising to truly majestic summits, Kachina Peaks Wilderness area boasts 12,643-foot Humphrey's Peak, the highest point in Arizona. The Wilderness is part of a large and heavily vegetated composite volcano, which bears signs of a rich geologic past that included violent eruptions and lava flows.

Arizona's best examples of Ice Age glaciation can be found here in lateral and medial moraines and abandoned stream beds. Erosion and frost have helped shape this area. The only arctic-alpine vegetation in the state grows up here in a fragile two-square-mile zone.

Because of this delicate ecosystem, hikers must stay on designated trails, and no camping or campfires are allowed above the tree line or within the Inner Basin.

The climb to the top of Humphrey's Peak is a nontechnical five-mile walk up the sometimes steep Humphrey's Trail.

Here and nowhere else on Earth grows the fragile San Francisco Peaks groudsel.

Groups are limited to a maximum of 12 people.

In addition to some of the best and highest views in Arizona, this area gives visitors a chance to climb in the snow and ice and to set up a winter campsite.

Forest Service permits are required for backcountry travel. These can be obtained at the Peaks Ranger District during regular business hours. Please call for more information.

Some people come for the cross-country skiing in the winter, while summer sees an influx of backpackers.

These peaks are sacred to tribes including the Havasupai, Hopi, Navajo, and Zuni. Several religious shrines have been identified in the Wilderness, some of which are currently in use. Please respect ongoing religious rites and do not disturb any artifacts you may find in the area.

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 Kachina Peaks 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 Kachina Peaks Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Arizona 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 98-406

Date: August 28, 1984
Acreage: 18,200 acres

Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public Law 98-406 (8/28/1984) Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-406 or special provisions for 98-406 or legislative history for 98-406.

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.