Summary
Current Protection
Wilderness
Management Agency
Bureau of Land Management
Legislation
2023 National Defense and Authorization Act (12/23/2022)
Total Area
14,050 Acres (12,339 acres still pending in Pershing County)
The Cain Mountain Wilderness (formerly known as the Augusta Mountain WSA) straddles the central ridge of the Augusta Mountain Range. The area is approximately 14 miles long and 6 miles wide. The altitude ranges from 3,400 to 8,400 feet. The northern part is a landscape of silicic ashflow tuff canyons and drainages. Isolated patches of pinyon-juniper are scattered throughout. The central section encompasses Cain Mountain, a limestone peak which is the highest point of the Wilderness. The mountain is scored in all directions by rugged, deep drainages lined with willow and cottonwood. Favret Canyon is the largest of these. The canyons have fossils and are blocked by intermittent waterfalls, with dense pinyon-juniper stands in the upper reaches. The southern portion is hilly with shallow washes and gullies and gently sloping foothills covered with low sagebrush and rabbitbrush.
Agency Information
Managing Agency: Bureau of Land Management
Local District: Winnemucca Field Office
Address: 5100 East Winnemucca Boulevard Winnemucca, NV 89445
Phone: (775) 623-1500
The Cain Mountain Wilderness is a traditional homeland of the Nuumu and Newe people, who have been living on and with these lands for countless generations.
The 1980 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wilderness Inventory identified 89,372 acres for the Augusta Mountain Wilderness Study Area (WSA). Today, the Cain Mountain Wilderness consisted of 14,050 acres within Churchill and Lander counties. The Cain Mountian Wilderness proposal in Pershing County includes 12,339 acres (See map of proposed Pershing County portion of Cain Mountain Wilderness here). Friends of Nevada Wilderness (FNW) has been actively advocating for conservation protections of Cain Mountain since the 1970s. FNW's commitment to stewardship for the Cain Mountain Wilderness includes natural, wilderness character, and dark sky monitoring along with various mapping projects in the region.