North Fork John Day Wilderness: Wallowa-Whitman

Wallowa Whitman National Forest, Near Baker City, Oregon

North Fork John Day Wilderness: Wallowa-Whitman does not offer reservations through Recreation.gov. Please take a look at the area details below for more information about visiting this location. Enjoy your visit!

Overview

The North Fork John Day Wilderness is comprised of four separate units - three on the Umatilla National Forest, and one on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Located in the Elkhorn and Greenhorn Mountains, it totals 121,560 acres with 106,125 on the North Fork John Day District of the Umatilla National Forest and 14,435 on the Whitman District of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. During its establishment by Congress in 1984 as part of the Oregon Wilderness Act, the area was recognized for two main priorities. These were to increase protection of the headwaters tributaries of the North Fork John Day River, and protection of the remaining high quality anadromous fisheries habitat in the river basin.

The Baldy Unit is a smaller unit situated west of Baker City, Oregon and is managed by the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. It has several scenic subalpine lake basins characteristic of the area, and the headwaters of the North Fork John Day River, Bull Creek, Baldy Creek, and Crawfish Creek. From rolling benchlands to the granite outcrops of the Greenhorn Mountains, the rugged Baldy Unit provides diverse landscapes. Much of the wilderness is composed of gentle benchlands and tablelands; the remaining of steep ridges and alpine lake basins. A continuous vegetative canopy covers most of the land, including dense virgin stands of conifer species like Douglas-fir, white fir, western larch and lodgepole pine.

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