“An area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”
—The Wilderness Act of 1964

When you see the term ‘Wilderness’ written with a capital ‘W’—as in the Wild Sky Wilderness or Alpine Lakes Wilderness—it means that area is protected by federal law. Passed in 1964, The Wilderness Act established the National Wilderness Preservation System, a national network of more than 800 federally designated Wilderness areas. These Wilderness areas are managed by the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Forest Service. Calling someplace ‘wilderness’ or describing a place as ‘wild’ can mean different things to different people. When working outside of official federal designation, we like to think of wilderness as anywhere you can connect with nature. 

Since 1979, Washington Wild has played an integral role in working with both local and national grassroots advocacy groups to permanently protect nearly 3 million acres of Wilderness throughout the state. Among the 25 most populous U.S. cities, Seattle boasts the most protected Wilderness within a 100-mile radius, thanks to Washington Wild and countless other Wilderness advocates. More than double the area of the next closest city, Seattle has over 3.6 million acres (about the area of Connecticut) of Wilderness within a 2-hour drive!   

Today Washington State has 31 Wilderness Areas covering approximately 4.3 million acres (roughly the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined!) Learn more about each one and plan your next outdoor adventure.