The Stephen Mather Wilderness is a 634614 acres (2,568 km²) wilderness area honoring Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

. It is located within North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park is a U.S. National Park located in the state of Washington. The park is the largest of the three National Park Service units that comprise the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Several national wilderness areas and British Columbia parkland adjoin the...

, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area

Lake Chelan National Recreation Area

Lake Chelan National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area located about south of the Canadian border in Chelan County, Washington. It encompasses an area of approximately including the northern end of Lake Chelan and the surrounding area of the Stehekin Valley and the Stehekin...

, and Ross Lake National Recreation Area

Ross Lake National Recreation Area

Ross Lake National Recreation Area is a US National Recreation Area located in north central Washington just south of the Canadian border. It is the most accessible part of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex which also includes North Cascades National Park and Lake Chelan National...

 in the North Cascade Range of Washington, United States.

It is bordered by the Pasayten Wilderness

Pasayten Wilderness

The Pasayten Wilderness is a 2145 km². protected area located within Okanogan National Forest and Mount Baker National Forest in Washington State, centered on the Three Forks of the Pasayten River, a tributary of the Similkameen River. The northern boundary of the wilderness is the Canadian...

 to the northeast, the Mount Baker Wilderness

Mount Baker Wilderness

Mount Baker Wilderness in northern Washington, USA,contains . Its eastern border is shared with the boundary of the North Cascades National Park for a distance of 40 miles . The Wilderness extends from State Route 20 north to the Canadian border...

 to the northwest, the Noisy-Diobsud Wilderness

Noisy-Diobsud Wilderness

The Noisy-Diobsud Wilderness is a relatively small wilderness area in northwestern Washington state adjacent to North Cascades National Park. Created in 1984, the Noisy-Diobsud contains of steep valleys, subalpine lakes, and the summits of Anderson Butte and Mount Watson...

 to the west, the Glacier Peak Wilderness

Glacier Peak Wilderness

The Glacier Peak Wilderness, created by the US Forest Service in 1960 by efforts of the , four years before the 1964 wilderness legislation of the Congress, is located within portions of Chelan County, Snohomish County, and Skagit Counties in the North Cascades of Washington...

 to the southwest, and the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness

Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness

Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness is a protected wilderness area located within the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests in Washington State. The Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness was designated with the passage of the Washington Wilderness Act of 1984, on lands occupied by the old Chelan Division...

 to the southeast.

The North Cascades National Park "Complex" consists of three units which make up Stephan Mather Wilderness: 505000 acres (2,044 km²) North Cascades National Park, which boasts 504614 acres (2,042 km²) acres of designated wilderness; 117600 acres (476 km²) Ross Lake National Recreation Area, a slim piece of land just east of the park that has 74000 acres (299 km²) acres of designated wilderness; and 62000 acres (251 km²) Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, at the southeast corner of the park, with 56000 acres (227 km²) of designated wilderness.

Wildlife

The Stephen Mather Wilderness provides a protected area for a wide variety of wildlife, including elk

Elk

The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...

, mule deer

Mule Deer

The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...

, gray wolf

Gray Wolf

The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...

, mountain goat

Mountain goat

The Mountain Goat , also known as the Rocky Mountain Goat, is a large-hoofed mammal found only in North America. Despite its vernacular name, it is not a member of Capra, the genus of true goats...

, moose

Moose

The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...

, and bighorn sheep

Bighorn Sheep

The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep in North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to , while the sheep themselves weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates that there are three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: Ovis canadensis sierrae...

. Species of wolverine

Wolverine

The wolverine, pronounced , Gulo gulo , also referred to as glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae . It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids...

, bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

, duck

Duck

Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...

, hawk

Hawk

The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...

, owl

Owl

Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...

, frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

, loon

Loon

The loons or divers are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia...

, chipmunk

Chipmunk

Chipmunks are small striped squirrels native to North America and Asia. They are usually classed either as a single genus with three subgenera, or as three genera.-Etymology and taxonomy:...

, coyote

Coyote

The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...

, squirrel

Squirrel

Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...

, bear

Bear

Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...

, falcon

Falcon

A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....

, eagle

Eagle

Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

 are also fairly common.

There are approximately twenty-eight species and subspecies of fish found in the wilderness, including the threatened bull trout

Bull trout

The bull trout, Salvelinus confluentus, is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, S. confluentus has been known as the "Dolly Varden" , but was re-classified as a separate species in 1980. Bull trout are listed as a threatened species under the U.S....

 and anadromous runs of coastal cutthroat trout

Cutthroat trout

The cutthroat trout is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It is one of the many fish species colloquially known as trout...

, Dolly Varden

Dolly Varden

Dolly Varden may refer to:* Dolly Varden , a character in the novel Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens. The original usage.* Dolly Vardens , a group of Black women baseball players that comprised the first professional baseball team* Dolly Varden , a musical group from Chicago, Illinois* Dolly Varden...

, steelhead trout, and five species of salmon found in the Skagit

Skagit River

The Skagit River is a river in southwestern British Columbia in Canada and northwestern Washington in the United States, approximately 150 mi long...

, Nooksack

Nooksack River

The Nooksack River is a river in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Washington. It drains an area of the Cascade Range around Mount Baker, near the Canadian border. The lower river flows through a fertile agricultural area before emptying into Bellingham Bay and, via the Strait of Juan de Fuca...

, and Chilliwack drainages.

Threatened or endangered wildlife species in the area include bull trout

Bull trout

The bull trout, Salvelinus confluentus, is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, S. confluentus has been known as the "Dolly Varden" , but was re-classified as a separate species in 1980. Bull trout are listed as a threatened species under the U.S....

 and northern spotted owl

Northern Spotted Owl

The Northern Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis caurina, is one of three Spotted Owl subspecies. A Western North American bird in the family Strigidae, genus Strix, it is a medium-sized dark brown owl sixteen to nineteen inches in length and one to one and one sixth pounds. Females are larger than males...

.

Recreation

Common recreational activities in the Stephen Mather Wilderness include backpacking, camping, wildlife watching, climbing, and hunting. There are some 13 miles (21 km) of trails in the wilderness, include the Pacific Crest Trail

Pacific Crest Trail

The Pacific Crest Trail is a long-distance mountain hiking and equestrian trail on the Western Seaboard of the United States. The southern terminus is at the California border with Mexico...

, which crosses the southeastern corner of the park for about 13 miles (21 km). Much of the area can only be reached by multiday hikes, often combined with mountaineering, through remote, trailless territory.

External links

• Stephen Mather Wilderness - North Cascades National Park
• Stephen Mather Wilderness - Wilderness.net
• Map of Stephen Mather Wilderness