Apache - Sitgreaves National Forest
Wilderness Areas

The 11,080 acres of Bear Wallow Wilderness were designated as wilderness in 1984. The wilderness contains some of the largest acreage of old-growth Ponderosa forest in the southwest. Bear Wallow Creek flows year-round across the wilderness and provides habitat for the endangered Apache trout.

The wilderness got its' name from all the bear wallows around and the area still has a significant number of black bears. The poison ivy here is also tall and very abundant.

The wilderness abuts the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation and visitors who cross the fence will want to have an advance permit. Humans in the Bear Wallow Wildernes are few and far between, the way it should be.

All 5,200 acres of the Escudilla Wilderness are immediately around the upper reaches of Escudilla Mountain, at 10,912 feet the third highest mountain in Arizona. The wilderness was designated in 1984 and is the third smallest wilderness area in America. The last known grizzly bear in Arizona was killed here and Aldo Leopold wrote: "Somehow it seems that the spirit of the bear is still there, prowling the huge meadows, lurking in the thick stands of aspen and spruce, wandering the steep slopes that looking down from is like looking out of the window of an airplane."

There are two main trails that access the wilderness: the Escudilla National Recreation Trail and the Government Trail. Hikers seem to prefer the Government Trail but, of course, the National Forest Service discourages its' use.

Captain George Wheeler, surveyor of much of the southwestern states in the 1870's, wrote that the view from the summit of Mt. Baldy was "the most magnificent and effective of any among the large number that have come under my observation." Because of this view, Mt. Baldy is one of the most popular hiking areas in Arizona.

Mt. Baldy is an extinct volcano rising to 11,403 feet, making it the second highest mountain in Arizona. Most of the mountain rises inside the White Mountain Apache Reservation but the 7,079 acres of wilderness are outside the reservation on the mountain's eastern slopes.

There are two trails that come close to the summit: the West Baldy Trail and the East Baldy Trail. However, the summit is on reservation land and is closed to non-tribal members. The two trails meet about 1/2 mile from the summit.

The Blue Range Primitive Area was declared by the Secretary of Agriculture in 1933. Its 173,762 acres are the last designated Primitive Area in the United States. This is countryside filled with rugged mountains, stark ridges and deep canyons, wild and remote but accessible through an extensive system of inter-connected trails.

As a Primitive Area, many of the rules that govern wilderness areas hold true here: especially the one about no motorized or mechanized vehicles, including mountain bikes. This is foot and horseback only country.