Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness
Few places in America, and nowhere outside of Alaska, provide a Wilderness experience to match the sheer magnitude of the Frank Church-River of No Return, the largest contiguous unit of the National Wilderness...
Description from Wilderness Connect (wilderness.net), where the full text continues.
| Designation | Wilderness |
| Managed by | Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service |
| State | Idaho |
| Size | 2.4 million acres (Wilderness Connect) |
| Designated | 1980, by Congress |
| Center point | 45.0659, -114.9649 |
| Night sky | About as dark as the ground gets (Black Marble reading 16) |
Boundary map
Boundary, simplified to about 0.005 degrees Federal campground Forest Service recreation site
The outline is the agency boundary simplified for display, so small parcels and inholdings may not show. The agency page has the authoritative map.
Weather by month
Large units span more than one climate. The station stands in for the center point, and the outer parts of the boundary can be warmer or colder.
Where to camp
3 federal campgrounds sit inside the boundary and 54 more are within ten miles of it. Nearest first. Distances are from the campground point to the boundary edge, from the Campsite Atlas index.
Show 4 moreHide
45 more within ten miles are not listed here.
Trailheads and sites
The Forest Service lists 11 recreation sites inside this wilderness, among them 5 trailheads, 3 campgrounds, 2 picnic areas, 1 interpretive site. Each links to its page on fs.usda.gov, which carries the season, fees and current status.
- 11 miGoat Creek Trailhead ↗Trailhead
- 33 mi
- 39 miHorse Heaven Trailhead ↗Trailhead
- 44 mi14 Mile Trailhead ↗Trailhead
- 47 miBluebunch / Bear Valley Trailhead ↗Trailhead
- 6 miCabin Creek Airfield Camping Area ↗Picnic area
- 9 miSoldier Bar Airfield Day Use Area ↗Interpretive site
- 15 miCold Meadows Airfield Camping Area ↗Picnic area
- 24 miChamberlain Basin Camping Area ↗Campground
- 32 miWendover Campground ↗Campground · May 22, 2024 to October 1, 2024
Show all 11Hide
- 34 miMackay Bar Campground ↗Campground · The campground is open year-round, but might not be accessible because of snow.
Distance is from the center point of the boundary, not from a road or town.
Trails
299 named Forest Service trails enter this wilderness, 2,638 miles in all. The 10 longest are listed here.
| Trail | Miles | Allowed uses |
|---|---|---|
| Middle Fork ↗ | 71.8 | |
| Chamberlain ↗ | 44.7 | |
| Cold Meadows ↗ | 36.7 | |
| Big Creek ↗ | 34.2 | |
| Square Top-West Horse ↗ | 33.4 | |
| Middle Fork River ↗ | 31.6 | |
| Indian Creek ↗ | 30.2 | |
| Bighorn Crags ↗ | 29.7 | |
| Mosquito Ridge ↗ | 27.3 | |
| Cottonwood Butte ↗ | 25.9 |
Lengths and allowed uses come from the Forest Service trail layer by way of Trailhead Atlas, refreshed September 18, 2026. Trails in plain text have no page there yet.
Explore
Nearby on the other atlases
- 0 miArctic Point Fire Lookout ↗Big Creek, ID
- 0 miButts Point Creek Fire Lookout ↗Salmon, ID
- 0 miCold Meadows Guard Station ↗McCall, ID
- 0 miFoster, Blacky, House ↗Shoup, ID
- 0 miSalmon Mountain Lookout ↗Darby (mt), ID
- 0.3 miBig Creek Commissary ↗Big Creek, ID
- 1.9 miCarey Dome Fire Lookout ↗Burgdorf, ID
- 3.7 miAh Toy Garden ↗Warren, ID
Landmarks are listed first, then by distance from the boundary.
Reference
Questions people ask
How big is Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness?
2.4 million acres.
Source: Wilderness Connect
Who manages Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness?
Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service share management. The Bureau of Land Management portion is the largest in the wilderness record.
Source: Wilderness Connect
What state is Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness in?
Idaho.
Source: Wilderness Connect
When was Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness designated?
Congress designated it in 1980.
Source: Wilderness Connect
Can I camp at Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness?
3 federal campgrounds sit inside the boundary, including Chamberlain Basin Camping Area, Horse Heaven Cabin and Mackay Bar Campground. 57 in all are within ten miles. Camping inside a wilderness is usually allowed away from roads, with no facilities; the managing agency page has the permit rules.
Source: Where to camp
Where are the trailheads in Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness?
The Forest Service lists 11 recreation sites here, including 5 trailheads, 3 campground campgrounds and 2 picnickings. Each one links to its Forest Service page.
Source: Trailheads and sites
How do I get to Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness?
A point inside the boundary is at 45.066, -114.965. The official page carries directions and the office address.
Source: Wilderness Connect
How dark is the night sky at Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness?
NASA’s Black Marble night-lights image reads 16 on a 0 to 255 scale at the center point, about as dark as the ground gets.
Source: NASA Black Marble
Are there historic places near Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness?
42 National Register listings within 15 miles, including Arctic Point Fire Lookout and Butts Point Creek Fire Lookout.
Source: Register Atlas
Sources
- Boundary, name, acreage, designation year, states and description: Wilderness Connect.
- Campgrounds: the Campsite Atlas index of federal campgrounds, matched to this boundary at build time.
- Trailheads and sites: the Forest Service Recreation Opportunities layer, points inside the boundary.
- Trails: the Trailhead Atlas open-data file of Forest Service trails, matched on the wilderness each trail enters.
- Night sky: NASA Black Marble (VIIRS, 2016 composite) sampled at zoom 6 around the center point.
- Weather, alerts, air quality, river flow and earthquakes load live in your browser from NWS, AirNow, USGS and iNaturalist when you open the page.