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.

In the extreme eastern Ouachita Mountains is a Wilderness that takes its name from Flatside Pinnacle, a 1,550-foot rock outcropping just outside the northeast boundary. In 2019, the Wilderness was expanded and the added acres named the Bethune Woods-Flatside Wilderness addition in honor of former Representative Ed Bethune.

Dominating the skyline are White Oak Mountain, the highest point in the Wilderness at 1,650 feet, and Forked Mountain, at 1,350 feet. From overlooks on the eastern and western sides, the forest below looks like an unbroken canopy of pines and hardwoods.

Several small creeks flow through the area.

Spanning the entire Ouachita National Forest from east to west, the Ouachita National Recreation Trail starts near Flatside Pinnacle and crosses the Wilderness for 10 miles of rugged hiking to White Oak Mountain.

Off-trail hikers will encounter some of the remotest parts of Arkansas.

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 Flatside 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 Flatside 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 98-508

Date: October 19, 1984
Acreage: 10,105 acres

Arkansas Wilderness Act of 1984 (Dale Bumpers Wilderness Resources Protection Act) - Public law 98-508 (10/19/1984) To designate certain national forest system lands in the State of Arkansas 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 98-508 or special provisions for 98-508 or legislative history for 98-508.

Public Law 105-245

Date: October 7, 1998
Acreage: 0 acres

Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 1999 - Public Law 105-245 (10/7/1998) Dale Bumpers Wilderness Resources Protection Act of 1998

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 105-245 or special provisions for 105-245 or legislative history for 105-245.

Public Law 115-430

Date: January 10, 2019
Acreage: 640 acres

Flatside Wilderness Enhancement Act - Public law 115-430 (1/10/2019) To designate additions to the Flatside Wilderness on the Ouachita National Forest, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 115-430 or special provisions for 115-430 or legislative history for 115-430.

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.