Wild Areas in Nevada

Welcome to Wild Nevada. From the stark Black Rock Desert Wilderness to the snow capped peak of Mount Charleston Wilderness towering over Las Vegas, to the golden aspen forests of the High Schells Wilderness near Ely, Nevada’s beauty is a secret we are sharing with you.

We are so lucky that almost 90% of Nevada is public land owned by us, the citizens of this country, so we really can enjoy these special places with no “keep out” signs. Nevada's public lands are the traditional home of the Northern Paiute, Washoe, Monache, Western Shoshone, Shoshone-Bannock, Goshute, Southern Paiute, Hualapai, Chemehuevi, and Mojave people who have been living on and with these lands for over 400 generations.

Our wild areas in Nevada are managed for us by the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service.

You can explore these wild areas by clicking a type category below. New for 2024 is a brochure we are publishing listing all protected places in Nevada to date, including a map. The Nevada's Protected Wild Places brochure is also available to download.

Wilderness Status

Designated Wilderness
Those wilderness areas that Congress has formally designated.

Wilderness Study Areas
Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) are areas the agencies have identified as wild and have the potential for designation.

Lands With Wilderness Character
These are wild areas that are neither designated wilderness nor WSA but are known to possess wilderness character.

Wild Areas by Region

Wild Areas by Region allows you to explore all the Wild Areas of Nevada by the regions outlined in the map above (or you can simply click on the interactive map for the region you are interested in exploring).

Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge

Sheldon Story Map  allows you to explore the history, wildlife, and stewardship of the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge.

National Parks, Monuments, Refuges, and Conservation Lands

National Park, Monuments, and Conservation Lands are public lands designated to protect natural and/or cultural resources. These lands often contain areas that are known to possess wilderness character and include National Monuments, National Parks, National Recreation Areas, National Conservation Areas, and National Wildlife Refuges.