The United States Congress designated the Fitzpatrick Wilderness in 1976 and it now has a total of 198,525 acres. All of this wilderness is located in Wyoming and is managed by the Forest Service. The Fitzpatrick Wilderness is bordered by the Bridger Wilderness to the southwest.
Fitzpatrick Wilderness Area
Originally called the Glacier Primitive Area, this Wilderness now holds 44 active glaciers (one spanning 1,220 acres) and many ragged mountain peaks in the northern half of the Wind River Mountains.
Lying on the east side of the Continental Divide, this area displays incomparable beauty and grandeur. You can climb Gannett Peak–at 13,804 feet it’s the highest point in Wyoming–for what seems to be unlimited mountaineering challenges. The western border is the Continental Divide, shared with Bridger Wilderness.
The eastern border is shared with the Wind River Indian Reservation. Carved by glaciers from granite and limestone rock, the area contains splendid alpine meadows, rocky plateaus, and stands of virgin timber.
Precipitous canyons shadow tumbling streams, and at least 60 crystalline lakes are full of fish. More than 75 miles of streams offer excellent trout fishing. Many species utilize these mountains as summer habitat, including elk, mule deer, moose, bighorn sheep, black bears, bobcats, and coyotes. Fall brings many big-game hunters.
Named for Tom “Half-Hand” Fitzpatrick, a mountain man and sometime partner of Jim Bridger, the Wilderness is extremely rugged with miles of bare granite rock. No season is free of frost and snowfall is possible any day of the year. Many miles of trails provide access, and one of the main routes enters the Wilderness from Trail Lake.
Rules for the Fitzpatrick Wilderness Area
ALL VISITORS
The following are prohibited:
1. Groups larger than 20 persons.
2. Camping within 100 feet of any trail, lake or stream.
3. Camping between the base of the Dinwoody Glacier and the confluence of Dinwoody Creek and Knoll Lake Creed along the Glacier Trail.
4. Storing equipment, personal property or supplies for more than 24 hours.
5. Wagons, carts (including game carts and wheelbarrows), bicycles, and other motorized, mechanized, or wheeled vehicles.
6. Camping in a single location for more than 16 days.
7. Shortcutting switchbacks.
8. Unacceptably storing food, refuse, or harvested animal carcasses. This restriction exists to minimize adverse interactions between bears and humans.
STOCK USERS
The following are prohibited:
1. More than 30 head of pack and saddle stock per group.
2. Feed other than pelletized feed, processed grain, or cubed hay that is certified weed seed free.
3. Free trailing stock.
4. Camping between the base of the Dinwoody Glacier and the confluence of Dinwoody Creek and Knoll Lake Creek along the Glacier Trail.
5. Hitching, tethering, or picketing livestock within 200 feet of a lake, or 100 feet of a stream.