Fitzpatrick Wilderness

Originally called the Glacier Primitive Area, this Wilderness holds 44 active glaciers — one spanning 1,220 acres — and many ragged mountain peaks in the northern half of the Wind River Mountain Range. It holds 13,804-foot Gannett Peak, the highest point in Wyoming. The western border is the Continental Divide, shared with the Bridger Wilderness; the eastern border is shared with the Wind River Roadless Area, part of the Wind River Indian Reservation. Situated along the Continental Divide, this area displays incomparable beauty and grandeur. Carved by glaciers through granite and limestone rock, it contains splendid alpine meadows, rocky plateaus, and stands of virgin timber. Precipitous canyons shadow tumbling streams, and granitic cirques hold more than 60 crystalline lakes. Many species use these mountains as habitat, including elk, mule deer, moose, bighorn sheep, black and grizzly bears, pikas, bobcats, coyotes, wolves, mountain lion and a variety of trout. Named for Tom "Half-Hand" Fitzpatrick, a mountain man and sometime partner of Jim Bridger, this Wilderness is extremely rugged with expanses of bare granite rock. Many miles of trails provide travel routes through it. No season is free of frost, and snowfall is possible any day of the year.