When you think of massive tracts of contiguous wilderness in the United States, you probably think of regions in the Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest, or Alaska. These are the areas where enormous regions of uninhabited land are common, with forests, tundras, deserts, and mountains all protected as National Parks, National Forests, National Wilderness, or some other land.
There are a handful of wilderness tracts left in the Eastern United States, with at least five areas with 500 square miles or more of contiguous wilderness. Kyle with Geography King took a look at these areas, counting the Eastern United States as everything from Minnesota to Maine.
5 Large Areas of Wilderness in the Eastern U.S.
5. Isle Royale, Michigan – Nearly 900-square-miles made up of one main island plus many smaller islands and the waters between them.
4. Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia & Florida – Roughly 684-square-miles of peat bogs, hammocks, sawgrass prairie, open lakes, and dense wetland.
3. Northwestern Maine – 5,000-square-miles of expansive wilderness incorporating Baxter State Park, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, and the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.
2. Superior National Forest & Boundary Waters – Northeastern Minnesota & Ontario – About 6,000 square miles of mostly wilderness on the U.S. side, centered on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
1. Everglades & Big Cypress, South Florida – Together the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp form about 9,000 square miles of contiguous mangroves, sawgrass prairie, cypress swamps, pine rocklands, and saltwater marshes.
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