California Wilderness - Wild Places in California


California is renowned for its natural beauty and scenic wonders. Each year, millions of visitors flock to places like Yosemite National Park, Big Sur, and Lake Tahoe to experience our stormy ocean beaches, snowy mountain peaks, pristine deserts and lush redwood forests.	Visit a Wild Place Near You Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Black Butte Blue Ridge Cache Creek Cady Mountains Cahuilla Mountain Caples Creek Carrizo Gorge Castaic Castle Peak Chumash Clavey River and Tributaries Cottonwood Creek Deep Creek Dick Smith Dinkey Creek Downie River and Tributaries Duncan Canyon Eagle Peak/Upper San Diego River East Fork Carson River Feather Falls Golden Trout - Rincon Granite Mountain Grouse Lakes Hauser Heart Lake Hoover Ishi John Muir King Range Kings Lower Kern River Mad River Buttes Matilija Creek Matilija Meiss Meadows North Fork Mokelumne River Owens River Headwaters Pine Valley Creek Piru Creek Pleasant View Sacramento River Sagehen Creek San Gorgonio San Rafael Sanhedrin Mountain Santa Clarita Canyons Sheep Mountain Siskiyou South Fork Merced South Fork Tuolumne South Fork Trinity Underwood Upper Sespe Creek White Mountains Yuki

Why Protect California's Remaining Wild Places? Over the last 20 years, more than 700,000 acres — an area of unprotected wilderness nearly the size of Yosemite National Park – have been lost in California. And many more acres of public lands and miles of wild rivers remain at risk. Destructive threats include logging, mining, illegal off-road vehicle use, road construction, dam construction, and other harmful activities. According to a statewide survey, 72% of California voters support permanent protection of more wilderness and wild rivers. These rugged places are where America’s wild heritage was born – giving us history, and a great quality of life. But why are these wild places so important? California’s wilderness and wild rivers provide: Homes for countless plants and animals: California is home to more than 5,800 plant species and 800 species of wildlife – many of which depend on habitat found in protected and unprotected wilderness areas and wild rivers. Clean water and air: California’s national forests are the source of over 60% of California’s clean drinking water supply, and they help to improve air quality by acting as filters for pollutants. Recreational opportunities: Each year, millions of anglers, hikers, hunters, backpackers, whitewater boaters, horseback riders, photographers, and birdwatchers visit our wilderness areas and wild rivers to recreate and escape to the great outdoors. Economic benefits: California’s rural regions once depended on resource extraction. Now, many earn their living from tourism and recreation, which are dependent on healthy ecosystems. An unprecedented citizens’ inventory of California’s remaining wild places was compiled by several of the Campaign’s key member groups. That inventory identified over seven million acres of public land and nearly 4,000 miles of free-flowing streams that qualify for protection under the 1964 Wilderness Act and the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. This represents 7% of California land and less than 2% of California’s rivers.

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