All of Oregon’s Wildernesses

[bobcat]

Over the past several years, as I’ve traveled around the state, I’ve been slowly gathering Oregon’s wilderness areas, especially those I’d never visited before. This year, I got to the last one, so here’s a sort of presentation (not a trip report) of that group of 48 units. In most of these, I hiked in several miles or backpacked. In a few of the smaller ones, I penetrated as far as I could.

There are 48 wilderness areas in Oregon, putting it fifth overall among the states (equal with Alaska) in terms of the total number of units (California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah have more). Oregon falls further down the list to 9th in terms of wilderness as a percentage of state land area (4% - tied with the likes of Florida, Hawaii, and Montana).

Two of Oregon’s wilderness areas are off limits to the public (and thus to me) but can be readily scoped out from the mainland: the Oregon Islands Wilderness and Three Arch Rocks Wilderness. Other than these island wildernesses, several of the wildernesses do not have official trails although they all have abandoned trail routes, old road tracks, and established user trails: Bridge Creek, Devils Staircase, Lower White River, Rock Creek, Spring Basin. Oregon shares three wildernesses: Red Buttes with California, Wenaha-Tucannon with Washington, and Hells Canyon with Idaho (photos are from the Oregon portions).

Here’s the list, with a photo for each, in the order they were designated as wilderness (acreage has been added to many of the earlier wildernesses with subsequent legislation).



Diamond Peak Wilderness

Designated: 1964, Willamette National Forest/Deschutes National Forest

Eagle Cap Wilderness

Designated: 1964, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Gearhart Mountain Wilderness

Designated: 1964, Fremont-Winema National Forest

Kalmiopsis Wilderness

Designated: 1964, Rogue-River Siskiyou National Forest

Mount Hood Wilderness

Designated: 1964, Mt. Hood National Forest

Mount Washington Wilderness

Designated: 1964, Willamette National Forest/Deschutes National Forest

Mountain Lakes Wilderness

Designated: 1964, Fremont-Winema National Forest

Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Designated: 1964, Malheur National Forest

Three Sisters Wilderness

Designated: 1964, Willamette National Forest/Deschutes National Forest

Mount Jefferson Wilderness

Designated: 1968, Willamette National Forest/Deschutes National Forest

Oregon Islands Wilderness

Designated: 1970, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Three Arch Rocks Wilderness

Designated: 1970, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Hells Canyon Wilderness

Designated: 1975, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest/Nez Perce National Forest/Payette National Forest/Bureau of Land Management

Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness

Designated: 1978, Umatilla National Forest

Wild Rogue Wilderness

Designated: 1978, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest/Bureau of Land Management

Badger Creek Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Mt. Hood National Forest

Black Canyon Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Ochoco National Forest

Boulder Creek Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Umpqua National Forest

Bridge Creek Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Ochoco National Forest

Bull of the Woods Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Mt. Hood National Forest

Cummins Creek Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Siuslaw National Forest

Drift Creek Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Siuslaw National Forest

Grassy Knob Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Mt. Hood National Forest/Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area

Menagerie Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Willamette National Forest

Middle Santiam Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Willamette National Forest

Mill Creek Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Ochoco National Forest

Monument Rock Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Malheur National Forest

Mount Thielsen Wilderness

Designated: 1984, DeschutesNational Forest/Umpqua National Forest/Fremont-Winema National Forest

North Fork John Day Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest/Umatilla National Forest

North Fork Umatilla Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Umatilla National Forest

Red Buttes Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest/Klamath National Forest

Rock Creek Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Siuslaw National Forest

Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Umpqua National Forest/Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Mt. Hood National Forest

Sky Lakes Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest/Fremont Winema National Forest

Table Rock Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Bureau of Land Management

Waldo Lake Wilderness

Designated: 1984, Willamette National Forest

Opal Creek Wilderness

Designated: 1996, Willamette National Forest

Steens Mountain Wilderness

Designated: 2000, Bureau of Land Management

Clackamas Wilderness

Designated: 2009, Mt. Hood National Forest

Copper Salmon Wilderness

Designated: 2009, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Lower White River Wilderness

Designated: 2009, Mt. Hood National Forest/Bureau of Land Management

Oregon Badlands Wilderness

Designated: 2009, Bureau of Land Management

Roaring River Wilderness

Designated: 2009, Mt. Hood National Forest

Soda Mountain Wilderness

Designated: 2009, Bureau of Land Management

Spring Basin Wilderness

Designated: 2009, Bureau of Land Management

Devils Staircase Wilderness

Designated: 2019, Siuslaw National Forest/Bureau of Land Management

[Webfoot]

Nice compendium.

[Splintercat]

Wow! Truly impressive, John! Love that your list is in order of enactment -- a reminder that none of these came easily, and are a product of nearly 60 years of effort by conservationists and lawmakers.

-Tom

[arieshiker]

Epic Bobcat......as were the trail reports after you completed the visits. Informative, educational and interesting.

[Charley]

That's a terrific accomplishment! Congratulations and thank you for your write-up, as well.

[justpeachy]

Wow, well done! Scrolling through the list I see several I didn't get to visit before they were badly burned in wildfires: Kalmiopsis, Gearhart Mountain, Strawberry Mountain, Three Sisters.

[ioscode]

Whoah, I'm surprised at the number, but going down the list I am reminded of many I have forgot. There's many I've never head of also. Very cool, makes me feel fortunate to have so many great places around us.

[greenjello85]

Wow! Congratz on the accomplishment and thanks for sharing. Love that opal creek shot! 2009 was quite the year for Oregon Wilderness.

[BaileyBoy]

Wow, just wow what an impressive accomplishment. I really appreciate all the informative trip reports you produce and always find a new trail or area to hike.

Thanks much

[Titogoeshiking3]

What a fantastic accomplishment! Thank you for sharing.