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.

Lonely, rarely visited, and subtle, this area is quintessential basin and range country: no lakes, no alpine meadows, no large coniferous forests.

Located in north-central Nevada, it encompasses the south end of the Santa Rosa Mountains, with 9,701-foot Santa Rosa Peak in the northern section as its highest point. Paradise Peak in the southern section overlooks rugged granite, a profusion of spring wildflowers, sweeping basins above pockets of quaking aspen, and an abundance of wildlife.

Mountain lions and bobcats are elusive but common inhabitants, and California bighorn sheep have been introduced. Eagles and hawks soar with the wind in the higher country, while upland game birds, grouse, and partridge dominate lower elevations. Cold streams provide a home for many trout, including the threatened Lahontan cutthroat. Rattlesnakes and hornets threaten the unobservant in summer.

The Summit Trail, with a trailhead at Singas Creek on the east side, crosses the northern section, slips outside the boundary on the east side, and reenters to cross the southern section. The Buffalo Canyon Trail, on the west side, climbs through rock outcroppings for 4.5 miles to join the Summit Trail at the top of the range. The Falls Canyon Trail passes a small waterfall about one-half mile into its 1.5-mile length. The two-mile McConnell Creek Trail offers a rewarding view of Santa Rosa Peak, whose summit can be reached with some strenuous hiking.

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 Santa Rosa-Paradise Peak 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 Santa Rosa-Paradise Peak Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Nevada 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 101-195

Date: December 5, 1989
Acreage: 31,000 acres

Nevada Wilderness Protection Act - Public law 101-195 (12/5/1989) To designate certain lands in the State of Nevada as wilderness, and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 101-195 or special provisions for 101-195 or legislative history for 101-195.

Public Law 113-291

Date: December 19, 2014
Acreage: 0 acres

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 - Public law 113-291 (12/19/2014) To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2015 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 113-291 or special provisions for 113-291 or legislative history for 113-291.

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.