Photo: Pamela Baca-Hanes | Mount Baldy

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each afternoon in September, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, we’re spotlighting three of Arizona’s 90 wilderness areas. For more information about any of the state’s wilderness areas, visit Wilderness.net, a collaboration between several wilderness-related organizations. The information here comes from that site and the wilderness areas’ managing agencies. Always contact the managing agency before visiting a wilderness to learn about any restrictions that may be in effect.

Mount Baldy Wilderness

Early surveyor Captain George Wheeler called the view from 11,400-foot Mount Baldy “the most magnificent and effective” he’d seen. Baldy is an extinct volcano, and part of it is on White Mountain Apache Tribe land. You might see bald eagles, mountain lions and black bears on Baldy’s slopes.

Location: Southwest of Springerville
Established: 1970
Size: 7,079 acres
Managed by: U.S. Forest Service
Contact: Springerville Ranger District, 928-333-4372 or www.fs.usda.gov/asnf

Mount Trumbull Wilderness

Mount Trumbull, a basalt-capped mesa, rises to 8,028 feet in this wilderness, and its steep slopes are dominated by piñon pines and junipers. Atop the mountain is a ponderosa-pine forest that has never seen a logger’s saw. The Mount Trumbull Trail climbs about 5 miles round-trip to the summit, and primitive camping is available.

Location: Northwest of Grand Canyon National Park
Established: 1984
Size: 7,880 acres
Managed by: Bureau of Land Management
Contact: Arizona Strip Field Office, 435-688-3200 or www.blm.gov/arizona

Mount Wilson Wilderness
This wilderness is almost completely surrounded by Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and it’s closer to Las Vegas than to any major Arizona city. On approach, it looks harsh and dry, but several dependable year-round springs support bighorn sheep and other wildlife.

Location: North of Kingman
Established: 1990
Size: 23,900 acres
Managed by: Bureau of Land Management
Contact: Kingman Field Office, 928-718-3700 or www.blm.gov/arizona