Wilderness
The Wilderness Act of 1964 directs that many tracts of land remain in their natural condition for use and enjoyment now and in the future. Wilderness areas provide opportunities to find solitude and natural beauty as well as protect important habitat for many species of animal and plant life. Primitive forests store critical rain and snow for gradual release to streams and rivers and the areas provide crucial opportunities to study natural ecological relationships. Wilderness areas are managed in order to protect these many benefits.
Please view the special regulations associated with Wilderness areas and always use Leave No Trace techniques to help keep these areas wild, clean, and pristine.
Fremont-Winema Wilderness
Wilderness Regulations:
Motorized equipment and equipment used for mechanical transport is prohibited. This includes the use of motor vehicles, motorboats, motorized equipment, bicycles, hang gliders, wagons, carts, portage wheels, and the landing of aircraft including helicopters.
Gearhart Mountain Wilderness ~ Special Restrictions
- Stock is not to be hitched, tethered or grazed within 200 feet of a water source.
- No campfires within 200 feet of the high-water line around Blue Lake.
Mountain Lakes Wilderness ~ Special Restrictions
- Group size is limited to 10 people and/or stock in any combination.
Mt. Thielsen Wilderness ~ Special Restrictions
- Group size:
- Use of Fremont-Winema National Forest portion of Mount Thielsen Wilderness is limited to a group of 6 people and 9 pack and saddle stock, except on Maidu Lake Trail #1446.
- Use of Maidu Lake Trail #1446 within Umpqua National Forest is limited to a group of 20 units, including pack and saddle stock, with a maximum of 12 people and 8 stock or 12 stock and 8 people.
- Use of Deschutes National Forest area is limited to 12, including people and stock.
- Stock is not to be hitched, tethered or grazed within 200 feet of a water source.
Sky Lakes Wilderness ~ Special Restrictions
- In Seven Lakes Basin and Blue Canyon Basin designated horse-camps must be used. Horses & Sky Lakes Wilderness brochure (691 KB PDF) provides details on these camps.
- Group size is limited to no more than 8 people and 12 stock except on the Mt. Loughlin Trail. Groups may contain 12 people if the group is passing through the wilderness as part of a longer trip along the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.
- Campsites and fires prohibited within 100 feet of a lake, 50 feet of a stream or spring.
- Stock is not to be hitched, tethered or grazed within 200 feet of a water source.
- Hitching or tethering a saddle or pack animal to any live tree for more than one hour is prohibited.
Weed-Free Feed
As part of a larger effort to reduce invasive species on national forest lands, weed-free feed is required in the 17 national forests and the Crooked River National Grasslands of the Pacific Northwest.