Ishi Wilderness

Ishi Wilderness
Black Rock with Mill Creek in foreground
Map showing the location of Ishi Wilderness
Map showing the location of Ishi Wilderness
Map of the state of California
Map showing the location of Ishi Wilderness
Map showing the location of Ishi Wilderness
Ishi Wilderness (the United States)
LocationTehama County, California, Sierra/Cascade region
Nearest cityRed Bluff
Coordinates40°08′05″N 121°45′19″W / 40.13472°N 121.75528°W / 40.13472; -121.75528
Area41,339 acres (167.29 km2)
Established1984
Governing bodyU.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management

The Ishi Wilderness is a 41,339 acre (167 km2)[1] wilderness area located on the Lassen National Forest in the Shasta Cascade foothills of northern California, United States. The Ishi Wilderness is located approximately 20 miles (32 km) east of Red Bluff. The wilderness was created when the US Congress passed the California Wilderness Act of 1984. The land is etched by wind and water, and dotted with basalt outcroppings, caves, and unusual pillar lava formations. The land is a series of east-west running ridges framing rugged river canyons, with the highest ridges attaining elevations of 4,000 feet (1,200 m). Deer Creek and Mill Creek are the principal drainages and flow into the Sacramento River.

The Ishi Wilderness is the only protected area in California that preserves a significant portion of the Sierra/Cascade foothill region of the southernmost Cascade Ranges.[2]

Almost the entire wilderness area was burned down by the Park Fire in mid-2024, causing it to currently lack significant greenery.

  1. ^ Wilderness.net data page accessed Dec.25, 2008
  2. ^ Adkinson, Ron p.185