iconic landscapes
Top Wild Places
Explore some of the best wild experiences — from iconic landscapes to hidden gems — the United States has to offer.
Every wild place is unique and has characteristics that we connect with for different reasons. We hope you find, among this list, some amazing wild places that inspire you:
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is considered the crown jewel of all refuges. This vast land of fragile tundra, dramatic mountains and epic wildlife migrations is truly the nation's last untouched wilderness.
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is one of the most fragile and challenging environments on earth. This partially frozen ocean at the top of the world is our front line of climate change.
Boise National Forest
Idaho's Boise National Forest spans 2.6 million acres and includes 7,600 miles of streams and rivers. It also houses more than 250 lakes and reservoirs.
California Desert
Located between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the California Desert is a vast landscape of painted mountains, sand dunes and hidden streams. It includes world-renowned places like Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks.
Clearwater Basin
Clearwater Basin is a 6 million-acre landscape that rises from Idaho’s Palouse prairie into a craggy, moss-draped wilderness. Clearwater Basin is the native land of the Nez Perce Native American tribe and one of the places that Lewis and Clark explored.
Dolores River Basin
Starting in the 14,000-foot peaks of Colorado’s San Juan mountains, the Dolores River winds through 230 miles of Colorado and Utah. The surrounding basin contains vast stretches of varied wilderness, from alpine forests to redrock canyons.
Eastern Tennessee
Wilderness areas dot the highland slopes of Cherokee National Forest in eastern Tennessee. The forest is located in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Gallatin Range
Montana’s Gallatin Range is a pristine chain of mountains. It begins in Yellowstone National Park and runs north to foothills outside the growing community of Bozeman.
Greater Dinosaur Region
The Greater Dinosaur Region in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah is sometimes called the sagebrush Yellowstone. Teeming with wildlife and divided by the Yampa and Green rivers, Greater Dinosaur is a paradise for backcountry hikers seeking wilderness adventure.
Greater Grand Canyon
Anchored by our most famous national park, the Greater Grand Canyon stretches from Grand Canyon National Park in northwest Arizona to the Utah border. It includes lesser-known gems like Vermilion Cliffs National Monument and the ancient ponderosa pines of the Kaibab National Forest.
Highway 2
Washington state's Highway 2 corridor spans the crest of the Cascade Mountains, encompassing the Skykomish basin in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and most of the Wenatchee basin in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.
Methow Valley
The eastern gateway to Washington's North Cascades, the Methow Valley is flanked by impressive peaks that offer countless recreational opportunities year-round. The Methow serves as the eastern gateway to North Cascades National Park and provides access to more than 680,000 acres of Wilderness in the Pasayten and Lake Chelan-Sawtooth areas.
North San Diego County Wild Heritage
California’s North San Diego County has a wild heritage. About an hour’s drive outside urban San Diego, the rugged area remains untouched by the rapid sprawl of the region. It provides a welcome escape from hectic city life.
Organ Mountains
New Mexico's Organ Mountains are named for the granite “needles” in the highest part of the range that resemble pipes from a pipe organ.
Otero Mesa
Otero Mesa is a hauntingly beautiful wild grassland that stretches more than 1.2 million acres in southern New Mexico.
Owyhee Canyonlands
The Owyhee Canyonlands span southwest Idaho, southeast Oregon and northeast Nevada. They are among the most remote areas of the continental United States.
Payette National Forest
Idaho's Payette National Forest is home to remarkable wildlands with pristine backcountry, wildlife habitat and unparalleled recreation.
Pinnacles
Pinnacles National Monument is a swath of stunning volcanic formations in central California.
Rocky Mountain Front
Montana's Rocky Mountain Front is a hiking and backpacking gateway, where the prairie meets a wall of towering peaks. The Front provides access for long trips into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, and day hikes near the outfitter towns of Choteau and Augusta.
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada is a breathtaking mountain range that spans 500 miles of California and touches Nevada.
San Gabriel Mountains
The San Gabriel Mountains are an urban escape near Los Angeles. They are Southern California’s most accessible wildland — within an hour’s drive of more than 15 million city dwellers.
Southeastern Utah
Utah’s canyon country is a backpacker’s dream. This remote and beautiful red rock wilderness includes Canyonlands National Park and is known as “the most weird, wonderful, magical place on earth.”
Southern Los Padres
This 100-mile expanse of land between Snow Mountain Wilderness and Lake Berryessa is an urban escape, 100 miles from San Francisco. City dwellers visit for its ample recreation opportunities, including hiking and swimming.
Southwestern Crown
In Montana’s Southwestern Crown of the Continent, the Blackfoot and Clearwater rivers join to create the Blackfoot-Clearwater region. The region’s many forests, rivers and other wildlands offer recreation of all kinds.
Western Arctic Reserve
The Western Arctic Reserve is a vast 22.1-million acre home to Arctic wildlife on Alaska’s North Slope. The Petroleum Reserve is roughly the size of Indiana. It remains a place where some Arctic drilling and Arctic wildlife can co-exist.
Western North Carolina
The highlands of western North Carolina are a place where wilderness hikes weave through towering old growth forests and rhododendron jungles.
White Mountain National Forest
White Mountain National Forest includes some of the most untamed and beautiful country in New Hampshire and Maine. This is New England’s wild backyard.
Wyoming Range
A state known for its wildlands, Wyoming gets its this name from this range in particular. It’s home to the 11,363-foot Wyoming Peak, where open slopes are dotted with sagebrush and pockets of aspen trees.
Yakima Basin
The Yakima Basin is one of the most diverse watersheds in Washington state. From the wet, alpine forests of the Cascades to the arid, sagebrush-studded Yakima Valley, the basin is home to the largest tributary of the Columbia River, the Yakima River.
mywilderness
Hear artists, activists and adventurers share what the ownership and legacy of these American wildlands means to them.
Adopt a Place
Whether you prefer the cool forests of New England or the hot deserts of the Southwest, you can help protect these wild places for future generations.
Why Wilderness
Wilderness is a precious resource with many human, natural and economic benefits that we need to protect.
Thursday, May 16, 2013Visit us in the Eco-Village at this summer’s Dave Matthews Band concerts.
Thursday, May 16, 2013It is a haven for geology lovers as water and erosion has exposed millions of years of deposited sedimentary rock. Recreationists of all kinds are awed by its natural sculptures: rock formations, canyons, mesas and gorges.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013A new rule will protect proposed renewable energy sites from conflicting mining development on public lands in the Western states, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said at the end of April.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013Yet, here we are, with people and the government unable to stop furloughs, job losses, and lower revenue to keep the government functioning. Our public lands have certainly not been spared from this indiscriminate budget ax.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013But Alaska’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski refused to accept that decision. She and residents of the tiny community of King Cove are fighting to have the decision overturned.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013Birdwatchers travel from far and wide to northwest Colorado to see male sage-grouse strut their stuff in hopes of attracting a mate. Early spring is prime season to catch these timid grouse dancing on the lek and shaking their tail feathers through organized tours.
Expanding energy development to meet the growing needs of America must be balanced with protecting vital wild places.
The Wilderness Society has launched a new quarterly report "By The Numbers" to track how many acres of American land have been protected by Congress and the Executive branch, and how many acres have been leased out to energy development.
April 24, 2013
Dear Senator:
In 2012, the Bureau of Land Management released Manual 6330, which replaced the agency's longstanding policy for management of Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs), known as the Interim Management Policy for Lands Under Wilderness Review (IMP). Manual 6330 does not provide for designation of new WSAs, but it does require more protective management for existing WSAs than the IMP.
Friday, May 17, 2013A draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area and Dominguez Canyon Wilderness near Grand Junction, CO would improve land management efforts and provide a sustainable path for the area over the next 20 years.
Thursday, May 16, 2013The Wilderness Society today applauded the U.S. Senate for passing the Rio Grande del Norte National Conservation Area Establishment Act out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The Rio Grande del Norte National Conservation Area Establishment Act (S. 241) – sponsored by Tom Udall (D-NM) and co-sponsored by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) – would protect as wilderness roughly 13,500 acres of the Cerro del Yuta and 8,000 acres of the Rio San Antonio areas.
Thursday, May 16, 2013The Wilderness Society today applauded the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for passing the Pine Forest Range Recreation Enhancement Act out of committee.