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.

Doc's Pass Wilderness is separated by a road into a north and south unit. It is clustered together with the Cougar Canyon, Slaughter Creek, and Tunnel Spring Wilderness areas along the Nevada state line.

Located in the remote northwest corner of Washington County, UT, the rugged terrain of the Bull Valley Mountains range in elevation from a little over 3,600 feet to 5,629 feet.

Beaver Dam Wash, contains a perennial stream which flows through this Wilderness and through a steep-sided canyon.

The Bull Valley Mountains are composed of Miocene age volcanic lava flows, ash-fall tuffs and mudflow breccias, and are densely covered with pinyon pine, Utah juniper, manzanita, and scrub oak. Many species of song birds and raptors can be viewed in the native willows and cottonwood trees that grow in the riparian zone along the creeks.

Beaver Dam Wash also supports native trout and the Virgin spinedace, a native minnow-like species

A wide variety of mammals roam here including elk, mule deer, mountain lion, ringtail, bobcat, badger, and both the common and kit fox.

Visitors to this Wilderness will experience scenic vistas and outstanding opportunities for backpacking, horseback riding, and primitive camping.

This part of Washington County is rugged and remote. Visitors should plan carefully and be prepared for backcountry travel conditions.

Doc's Pass Wilderness receives between 10 and 14 inches of precipitation annually. Summer temperatures can easily exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit and drop well below freezing in winter.

There are no maintained trails in the Wilderness.

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 Doc's Pass 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 Doc's Pass Wilderness
Google Earth

Utah 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 111-11

Date: March 30, 2009
Acreage: 17,294 acres

Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 - Public law 111-11 (3/30/2009) An act to designate certain land as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, to authorize certain programs and activities in the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 111-11 or special provisions for 111-11 or legislative history for 111-11.

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.