Into the Wild: North America

With everything that progress has brought in our modern world, it is a travelers dream to visit places on the planet that are virtually untouched -- places where humans haven't completely tainted the environment. These areas are typically locations that have been designated as conservancies, so that future generations can remember and enjoy them for years to come. Here are some of the wild places of North America

Northern Territories of Canada

Northern Canada, colloquially the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canadaseparated into three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Sparsely populated mostly by people of native North American Indian and Inuit descent, Canada's three northern territories still retain lifestyles before European colonization of the New World. 

Sure there is a Western influence, but locals still fish, hunt, and gather in the pristine, forested wilderness as they have been for centuries.

United States
The contiguous 48 states of the US are a huge swath of territory, spanning over 3.1 million square miles. Even with this seemingly limitless expanse, very little land is untouched by civilization. There are more than 4 million miles of public roads in the United States, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and that doesn't count private roads, utility roads or off-road vehicle trails.It seems almost impossible to find a place to get away from it all. 

There are, however, currently more than 750 areas in the National Wilderness Preservation System comprising over 109 million acres (this is basically 5% of the United States). Not all of these areas are federally protected wilderness, but all are places where "man is a visitor" -- you included.

Pack in, pack out, and enjoy the photos... here are just a few examples.

Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, Idaho
The "River of No Return" in this pristine wilderness in central Idaho refers to the Salmon River, a famous whitewater rafting destination known for its powerful current. The name is just as well, given the truly rugged nature of this 2.3-million acre wilderness, the second largest in the lower 48 after Death Valley. Apart from a few airstrips, there are only a handful of service roads and 1.5 million acres without any trails at all. The Salmon River cuts a gorge deeper than the Grand Canyon in places, and the mountains are steep and nearly impassable, making them the perfect habitat for threatened species like gray wolves, mountain lions and wolverines. 

Gila National Forest, New Mexico

This national forest has more official wilderness than any other protected forest in the Southwest. In fact, the 558,000-acre Gila Wilderness was the first designated wilderness area in the world, when it was set aside in 1924. This wild area is described as a varying landscape, from grassland foothills, juniper woodland, ponderosa pine, and then spruce-fir forests on the high peaks. Human impact here is so minimal that it's able to support of a small population of Mexican gray wolves, a critically endangered species.

Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia and Florida

A vast black water bog straddling the Georgia-Florida line, the Okefenokee Swamp is a 38-mile by 25-mile spread of prairie grass, bald cypress, islands, lakes and scrub. Being only a short drive from Jacksonville, Fla. it is the perfect place to escape civilization if you are in the area. 

Nearly 354,000 acres on the Georgia side are officially designated as federal wilderness, and they're best accessed via canoe or kayak. Watch out for bears, alligators and water moccasins.

Bob Marshall Wilderness, Montana
Even in vast, wild Montana, the Bob Marshall Wilderness is vast and wild. Following the Continental Divide for 60 miles, It has one million acres of rocky ridges, alpine meadows and dense forest populated by major North American megafauna, including wolves and grizzly bears. 

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