The Three Sisters Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Cascade Range

Cascade Range

The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...

, within the Willamette

Willamette National Forest

The Willamette National Forest is a National Forest located in the central portion of the Cascade Range of US state of Oregon.It comprises 1,675,407 acres making it one of the largest national forests. Over 380,000 acres are designated wilderness which include seven major mountain peaks...

 and Deschutes National Forest

Deschutes National Forest

The Deschutes National Forest is a United States National Forest located in parts of Deschutes, Klamath, Lake, and Jefferson counties in central Oregon. It comprises 1.8 million acres along the east side of the Cascade mountains. In 1908, the Deschutes National Forest was established from parts...

s in Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. It comprises 286,708 acres (1,160 km²), making it the second largest Wilderness area in Oregon. It was established by the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 in 1964 and is named for the Three Sisters

Three Sisters (Oregon)

The Three Sisters are three volcanic peaks of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range in Oregon, each of which exceeds in elevation. They are the third, fourth, and fifth highest peaks in the state of Oregon and are located in the Three Sisters Wilderness, about southwest from the nearest...

 Mountains.

State Highway 242 separates the Three Sisters Wilderness from the Mount Washington Wilderness

Mount Washington Wilderness

The Mount Washington Wilderness is a wilderness area located on and around Mount Washington in the central Cascade Range of Oregon in the United States. The Wilderness Area was established in 1964 and comprises of the Willamette and Deschutes National Forests...

 to the north, while the Waldo Lake Wilderness

Waldo Lake Wilderness

Waldo Lake Wilderness is a wilderness area surrounding Waldo Lake in the central Oregon Cascades. It is located within the Willamette National Forest...

 shares the southern boundary.

Topography

The Three Sisters Wilderness ranges in elevation from 2,000 to 10,358 feet (600 to 3157 m). The Three Sisters (North Sister at 10,085 feet, Middle Sister at 10,047 feet, and South Sister at 10,358 feet) are found in the eastern portion of the Wilderness. Including Broken Top just to the south at 9,175 feet, there are 14 glaciers offering one of the best examples of the effects of glaciation in the Pacific Northwest. Collier Glacier, between North and Middle Sister, is the largest glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

 in Oregon. The headwaters of the Wild and Scenic

National Wild and Scenic River

National Wild and Scenic River is a designation for certain protected areas in the United States.The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was an outgrowth of the recommendations of a Presidential commission, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission...

 Whychus Creek (formerly Squaw Creek) emerge in the Wilderness.

Vegetation

Forest cover in the Three Sisters Wilderness includes Douglas Fir, Silver Fir

Silver Fir

Abies alba, commonly known as the European silver fir, is a fir native to the mountains of Europe, from the Pyrenees north to Normandy, east to the Alps and the Carpathians, and south to southern Italy and northern Serbia.-Description:...

, Subalpine fir

Subalpine Fir

The Subalpine Fir or Rocky Mountain Fir is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of Yukon, British Columbia and western Alberta in Canada; southeastern Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, northeastern Nevada, and the...

, mountain hemlock

Tsuga

Tsuga is a genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae. The common name hemlock is derived from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage to that of the unrelated plant poison hemlock....

, western hemlock

Western Hemlock

Tsuga heterophylla. the Western Hemlock, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma County, California.-Habitat:...

, true fir, lodgepole pine

Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...

 and Ponderosa pine

Ponderosa Pine

Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...

. A large area of the Wilderness above timberline contains alpine

Taiga

Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...

 meadows.

Recreation

Popular recreational activities in the Three Sisters Wilderness include camping, hiking, rock climbing, and fishing. More than 260 miles (418 km) of trails cross the Wilderness, including 40 miles (60 km) of 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...

. The South and Middle Sisters are not technically difficult climbs, but the North requires technical expertise and equipment.

See also

• List of Oregon Wildernesses
• List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
• Wilderness Act
  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 some 9 million acres of federal land. The result of a long effort to protect federal wilderness, the Wilderness Act was signed...
  
  

External links

• Three Sisters Wilderness - Willamette National Forest
• Three Sisters Wilderness - Deschutes & Ochoco National Forests
• Wilderness.net wilderness information
• TopoQuest map of the Three Sisters