Designated Wilderness Areas

Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness

I have not visited this location yet. Soon!

Bridger Wilderness

This Wilderness is high in the running for the most beautiful stretch of mountains in the world. It sounds like hyperbole, but the Wind River Range is truly spectacular.

The only reason this chunk of granite is not a national monument is because Wyoming made a dubious deal back in the 1950s. In brief, Rockefeller bought up a ton of land near Jackson and wanted to donate it to the feds. The locals had a fit over this. One source I read says they staged a cattle drive across Rockefeller’s land. Teddy Roosevelt, never one to let a few cranky folks get in his way, used the Antiquities Act to turn the whole parcel into a monument. Famously, Roosevelt used this trick throughout the country, thereby establishing a precedent that has been acted on by every president since. Some of our most precious lands have been protected in this way, but the top-down nature of this style of conservation has certainly riled folks over the years (see the saga of the Bears Ears Monument for example).

Cloud Peak Wilderness

The Bighorn Mountains lie in north central Wyoming. They are a forested range with a spine of ancient rock–3 billion years old. For the non-geologists out there, this makes the rock Precambrian. So when you stand on top of Cloud Peak, know that the rock was there before most modern life forms evolved. Meaning, there were no critters with arms and legs yet.

Interestingly, when the mountains were uplifted (the Laramide Orogeny) there was sedimentary rock piled atop, which subsequently eroded. Folks climbing at Ten Sleep, WY, pull limestone pockets that are the remainders of this sedimentary layer. Ten Sleep is on the west slope of the range and a great spot to visit.

Encampment River Wilderness

The Encampment river cuts down through the Sierra Madre to join the North Platte. It is an oasis in dry southeastern Wyoming. A boon for wildlife and nature lovers alike. Read more about the area and its history in the Encampment River Canyon WSA entry here.

The WSA is just north of the actual Wilderness, and most visitors will pass through both parcels. Keep your eyes out for bighorn, as there is a smallish herd in the area.

Fitzpatrick Wilderness

I have not visited this location yet. Soon!

Gros Ventre Wilderness

In 2024 I hiked across the crest of the Gros Ventre range with a good friend. Neither of us expected geology, at the underfoot scale, to be the highlight of the walk.

We traversed the range at its crest, trying to stay as true to the high line as possible. We started near Flat Creek, where there is an idyllic guest ranch (this ranch was gifted to its long time managers). It looks like a place people write nostalgic fishing novels about. Shortly thereafter, we began bushwhacking through deadfall, uphill. Rather difficult going. Eventually we stumbled onto a trail that probably would have been easily findable by someone that likes to plan their hikes more than me. I like having a general idea, but not knowing every little detail of a walk. I am in it for the exploration.

Huston Park Wilderness

At some point, the folks that gave European names to stuff in the Rocky Mountains decided big meadows should be called ‘parks’. South Park is the most famous such geological feature, for dubious reasons.

Huston Park is central to this, the only, wilderness tucked atop the Sierra Madre. There are a few other notable parks within the wilderness—Long Park for one. The wilderness has a chill, wild feel… like a place where wildlife actually lives. You don’t get that feeling if you only visit the high and rocky places of the West.

Jedediah Smith Wilderness

In 2018, I was studying plant-associated microbes and did some field work in this Wilderness. My passion at the time was fungal endophytes–fungi that live inside plant leaves (they are everywhere). The project was to survey a variety of plants, learn what bacteria and fungi lived on or inside them, and see if we could learn anything useful about patterns in microbial abundance or diversity.

At any rate, I was hunkered down in a bush right near the Teton Creek trailhead (if memory serves) collecting plant leaves at about 7 a.m. when I heard something rustling my way–a youngish black bear.

North Absaroka Wilderness

I have not visited this location yet. Soon!

Platte River Wilderness

I have so much to say about this wilderness, my most visited.

I am not quite ready to write up a full story from here yet.

A preview: Steeling ourselves for North Gate Canyon and chatting. Not paying enough attention and then my friend said, ‘We should not be here.’ Right as our 2-person catamaran went into a big hole and got stuck, surfing. Then, ‘Let’s try to grab the current with our paddles…’ it worked, the main current saved us from ourselves, we were both surprised. North Gate at high water and our partner’s boat appearing near perpendicular as it went through the rapids.

Popo Agie Wilderness

I have visited this location, but have not had a chance to write it up yet. Soon!

Savage Run Wilderness

Hardly slept because of elk bugles in the distance—kept waking to keep tabs on the moving feast. Around 4 o’clock I decided to get myself in front of the herd as they moved back to cover after the night’s foraging.

Plunked down near a small meadow that seemed the path of least resistance. I could hear the bugles coming closer and now the cows. Quite a big herd—moving pretty slowly.

Teton Wilderness

I have visited this location, but have not had a chance to write it up yet. Soon!

Washakie Wilderness

I have visited this location, but have not had a chance to write it up yet. Soon!

Winegar Hole Wilderness

I have not visited this location yet. Soon!