Santa Rosa - Paradise Peak Wilderness

The Santa Rosa-Paradise Peak Wilderness takes in a small slice of Nevada's high desert mountains thirty miles North of Winnemucca off State Highway 95. The 32,020 acre wilderness, established by the Nevada Wilderness Act of 1989 encompasses the high ridge on the South end of the Santa Rosa Mountains in Northern Nevada. Prominent peaks are Santa Rosa Peak, the highest peak in the Wilderness at 9,701 feet, Paradise and Singas peaks.

The Santa Rosa-Paradise Peak Wilderness is a different sort of wilderness-without lakes, alpine meadows, or large coniferous forests-but quietly spectacular with its rugged granitic rock formations, abundant spring wildflowers and wide, sweeping basins above pockets of aspen trees. It is characteristic of much of the basin and range country of Northern Nevada.

The Santa Rosa-Paradise Peak Wilderness is a lonely and rarely visited place-yet it parallels a major state highway on its west side and state route on the east side. Just a couple of miles west of the Wilderness boundary, a steady stream of diesel trucks and cars roar along State Highway 95 between Nevada and Oregon. One has to walk only a few hundred yards up any of the canyons that access the Wilderness and vehicle sounds are lost in the rushing of mountain streams, the muffled roar of a ridge top wind, and the hush of mountain stillness.

Maps and trail information are available at the Santa Rosa Ranger Station.

Nearest Nevada Town:

• Orovada to the west
• Paradise Valley to the east
• Winnemucca to the south