Wild Sky Wilderness

The United States Congress designated the Wild Sky Wilderness in 2008 and it now has a total of 106,577 acres. All of this wilderness is located in Washington and is managed by the Forest Service. The Wild Sky Wilderness is bordered by the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness to the northeast.  The Wild Sky Wilderness is the newest addition to a 2.6 million acre wilderness complex that straddles the rugged North Cascade Range from Canada to Snoqualmie Pass. The southwestern portion of the wilderness is only 25 miles from Puget Sound and adjacent to the fast growing communities of the Skykomish River Valley. The western part of the wilderness is characterized by very steep slopes and dramatic local relief. For example, from the North Fork Skykomish River near the town of Index, the terrain rises from about 600 feet above sea level to over 6,000 feet, on Gunn Peak, in less than 3 miles. Annual precipitation in this area runs between 150 to 200 inches annually, most of it coming as snow during the wet winter months. Runoff from the rain and snow feed streams that drop into the deep valleys below. This source of clean water is important to salmon which spawn in these reaches and provide exciting spring raft trips on the Skykomish River. Vegetation is dense on the valley walls, composed of Douglas fir, western red cedar and western hemlock at the lower elevations, grading to silver fir and mountain hemlock in the mid elevations to sub alpine parklands in the higher reaches. Timberline in the area is relatively low, between 4,500 and 5,000 feet. The higher peaks such as Merchant, Gunn, and Spire sport permanent ice patches on their north and east slopes. Trails in this part of the wilderness are few and cross-country travel is difficult.