Wilderness Areas

Wilderness is an area of Federal Land that is free from modern human control or manipulation, is undeveloped, and provides outstanding opportunites for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation. Wilderness areas are generally over 5,000 acres in size and may contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.
The Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests has nine Wilderness areas that are part of the 109 million-acre National Wilderness Preservation System. 

• Deseret Peak
• High Uintas
• Lone Peak
• Mount Naomi
• Mount Nebo
• Mount Olympus
• Mount Timpanogos
• Twin Peaks
• Wellsville Mountains

Scenic Byways

The Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest is host to two National Scenic Byways, Logan Canyon and Nebo Loop.  You can visit the National Scenic Byway website or you can click on the link below to find out highway numbers, distance, time to allow, recreation opportunities and maps of the area.  Also listed below are the four State - National Forest Scenic Byways located on the Forests.

• Big Cottonwood Canyon
• Little Cottonwood Canyon
• Logan Canyon
• Mirror Lake Highway
• Nebo Loop
• Ogden River

American Fork Recreation Area

 
American Fork Recreation Area is a 46,000-acre backyard escape for the 1.8 million people living in the Wasatch Front Metro Area.  Attractions include Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Cascade Springs, Tibble Fork and Silver Lake Flat Reservoirs, and Wasatch Mountain State Park.  Trailheads lead adventure seekers into Mount Timpanogos and Lone Peak Wilderness Areas. 

American Fork Canyon is within the recreation fee area and can be accessed from the Alpine Loop Scenic Backway (SR-92).  The spectacular canyon walls in lower American Fork Canyon are deeply incised.  Higher up, the canyon forks into open basins with alpine peaks that top 11,000 feet.  The road then crosses over a divide into the north fork of the Provo Canyon, with views of Mount Timpanogos and dazzling fall colors.

 

Additional Resources

• Celebrating Wildflowers
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Leave No Trace
• Philosophies, Protection & Management
• Tread Lightly
• Wilderness.net
• Wilderness Etiquette & Restrictions

Highlights

• Blacksmith Fork Cabin

  

  The small green and white cabin sits on the bank of the Left Hand Fork of the Blacksmith Fork River and is surrounded by box elder and oak trees with the steep canyon wall behind the cabin covered in Douglas fir trees.

  Look Closer

• Payson Lakes Cabin

  

  The Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest offers the cabin for advance reservation so visitors can enjoy an experience similar to that of early Forest Rangers and their families. The Guard Station is nestled in a forest of aspen and Douglas fir trees at an elevation of 8,000 feet.

  Check it Out