Summary
Current Protection
Designated Wilderness
Management Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Year Protected
1989
Total Area
32,029 Acres
As the result of advocacy by Nevada citizens and organizations like Friends of Nevada Wilderness, the United States Congress designated the 31,000 acre Santa Rosa-Paradise Peak Wilderness with the passage of the Nevada Wilderness Protection Act of 1989. Through subsequent boundary adjustments, the wilderness now has a total of 32,029 acres (to learn more about the conservation of the Santa Rosa Mountains, see the Additional Resources tab on the left side of this page). The name Paradise Peak was added to the name of the Wilderness to distinguish it from the Santa Rosa Wilderness in California.
Friends of Nevada Wilderness commitment to stewardship of the Santa Rosa/Paradise Peak Wilderness includes working with managing agencies and partner organizations to assure that areas are regularly monitored, ecological impacts are quickly and effectively rehabilitated, trails are repaired and maintained, and vehicular incursions into wilderness are closed and the damage is restored. Due to invasive cheatgrass, this Wilderness is prone to catastrophic wildfires. Friends of Nevada Wilderness works closely with managing agencies to lead replanting work trips into the wilderness to assure the post-fire survival of native shrubs and forbs.
The Santa Rosa Range is the traditional home of the Northern Paiute and Shoshone-Bannock people who have been living on and with these lands for countless generations.
This Wilderness is located in north-central Nevada, it encompasses the south end of the Santa Rosa Mountains. Prominent peaks include Santa Rosa (9,701 ft) Paradise (9,444 ft) and Singas (9,415 ft) peaks (Singas Peak is not an actual USGS named peak; it is a benchmark location atop the crest of the Santa Range, south of Paradise Peak with an elevation of 9415 feet). Santa Rosa-Paradise Peak Wilderness is a different sort of Wilderness featuring a quietly spectacular landscape with rugged granitic rock formations, abundant spring wildflowers, and wide, sweeping basins above pockets of aspen. Paradise Peak in the southern section overlooks rugged granite, a profusion of spring wildflowers, sweeping basins above pockets of quaking aspen, and an abundance of wildlife. Hidden in Falls Canyon on the west side of Paradise Peak is a 30-foot waterfall. This wilderness is fine example of the best Basin and Range country in northern Nevada.
Agency Information
Managing Agency: U.S. Forest Service
Local District: Santa Rosa Ranger District
Address: 3275 Fountain Way, Winnemucca, NV 89445
Phone: (775) 623-5025