The Platte River Wilderness is primarily located in south central

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

, with a small section extending into

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Located entirely within

Medicine Bow - Routt National Forest Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

, the wilderness was created in 1984 to protect the forestlands adjacent to the North Platte River. These forestlands were almost entirely consumed by the

Mullen Fire The Mullen Fire is a wildfire that burned over , west of Laramie, Wyoming. The fire started on September 17, 2020 in the Savage Run Wilderness of Carbon County, and spread to Albany County. On September 30, it spread into Jackson County, Colorad ...

in 2020. The Wyoming section lies within the original

Medicine Bow National Forest Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...

, whereas the Colorado section is in the original

Routt National Forest Routt may refer to: ;Places In the United States: * Routt, Louisville, Kentucky *Routt County, Colorado ;People *Joe Routt *John Long Routt *Stanford Routt Stanford Bermond Routt (born July 26, 1983) is a former American football cornerback. Aft ...

; since 1995 these have been administratively combined.

U.S. Wilderness Area The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...

s do not allow motorized or mechanized vehicles, including bicycles. Although

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more na ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

are allowed with proper permit, no roads or buildings are constructed and there is also no logging or

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

, in compliance with the 1964

Wilderness Act The Wilderness Act of 1964 () was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a lon ...

. Wilderness areas within National Forests and Bureau of Land Management areas also allow

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

in season.

References

Protected areas of Albany County, Wyoming Protected areas of Carbon County, Wyoming Protected areas of Jackson County, Colorado Wilderness areas of Wyoming Wilderness areas of Colorado Protected areas established in 1984 Medicine Bow National Forest Routt National Forest 1984 establishments in Colorado 1984 establishments in Wyoming {{Colorado-protected-area-stub