About Wilderness Areas

Cherokee National Forest Wilderness Areas 

The Wilderness Act of 1964 designated portions of federally owned land as Wilderness. By law, these lands are affected primarily by the forces of nature, where natural biological and physical processes are allowed to proceed with little or no human intervention and humans are considered “visitors.” Ten percent of the Cherokee National Forest’s land base – more than 66,000 acres – is Congressionally designated Wilderness. 

No motorized equipment or wheeled vehicles except wheelchairs are allowed in Wilderness or Wilderness Study Areas. Visiting a Wilderness requires a high degree of self-reliance. Trails are minimally maintained with a limited number of signs, trail blazes and footbridges. Group sizes are limited – six or fewer is best for minimum impact.

These links provide information from Wilderness.net, a partnership project of the Wilderness Institute at The University of Montana's College of Forestry and Conservation, the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center, and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute.

 

 

 

Wilderness Areas in the Cherokee National Forest include:                                     

• Bald River Gorge Wilderness (map)
• Big Frog Wilderness (map)
• Big Laurel Branch Wilderness (map)
• Citico Creek Wilderness (map)
• Cohutta* Wilderness (map)
• Gee Creek Wilderness (map)
• Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock* Wilderness (map)
• Little Frog Mountain Wilderness (map)
• Pond Mountain Wilderness (map)
• Sampson Mountain Wilderness (map)
• Unaka Mountain  Wilderness (map)

(*Cherokee section)        

So what exactly is Wilderness?  So find out more, click HERE.