Wilderness

“Wilderness” is a word with widely different meanings to different people.  For the U.S. Forest Service, Wilderness refers to a designated area of national forest land established as Wilderness through law by an Act of Congress, as a part of the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS).  The Wilderness Act of 1964 legally defines Wilderness as an area “where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man; where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

The George Washington & Jefferson National Forest are home to twenty-three Wildernesses designated between 1975 and 2009, totaling 139,461 acres.  Wilderness stewardship on the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest is designed to:

• Preserve the natural character of the area
• Allow natural forces to dominate the character of the land
• Provide opportunities for solitude and primitive recreation activities
• Allow of undisturbed development of plant and animal species and the protection of their habitat

Motorized equipment and mechanical transport are not allowed in Wilderness.  Group size is limited to ten people in all Wildernesses on the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest.

 

Wilderness	Acres	District	Counties
Barbours Creek	5,382	Eastern Divide R.D.	Craig
Beartown	5,609	Eastern Divide R.D.	Tazewell
Brush Mountain	4,794	Eastern Divide R.D.	Montgomery
Brush Mountain East	3,743	Eastern Divide R.D.	Craig
Garden Mountain	3,291	Eastern Divide R.D.	Bland
Hunting Camp Creek	8,470	Eastern Divide R.D.	Bland
James River Face	8.886	Glenwood-Pedlar R.D.	Bedford, Rockbridge
Kimberling Creek	5,805	Eastern Divide R.D.	Bland
Lewis Fork	5,926	Mount Rogers NRA	Grayson, Smyth
Little Dry Run	2.858	Mount Rogers NRA	Wythe
Little Wilson Creek	5,458	Mount Rogers NRA	Grayson
Mountain Lake	16,511	Eastern Divide R.D.	Craig, Giles, Monroe
Peters Mountain	4,531	Eastern Divide R.D.	Giles
Priest	5,963	Glenwood-Pedlar R.D.	Nelson
Raccoon Branch	4,223	Mount Rogers NRA	Smyth
Ramseys Draft	6,518	North River R.D.	Augusta
Rich Hole	6,450	James River R.D.	Alleghany, Rockbridge
Rough Mountain	9,300	Warm Springs R.D.	Bath
Saint Mary’s	9,835	Glenwood-Pedlar R.D.	Augusta
Shawvers Run	5,686	Eastern Divide R.D.	Craig
Stone Mountain	3,270	Clinch R.D.	Lee
Three Ridges	4,608	Glenwood-Pedlar R.D.	Nelson
Thunder Ridge	2,344	Glenwood-Pedlar R.D.	Bedford, Botetourt, Rockbridge

The official source for Wilderness information is www.wilderness.net.