wilderness area

noun, often capitalized W&A

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of wilderness area

: an often large tract of public land maintained essentially in its natural state and protected against introduction of intrusive artifacts (such as roads and buildings)

See wilderness area defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of wilderness area from the Web

For some, missing persons cases become a hobby, a puzzle to solve, a form of salvation, even when wilderness areas thwart their techniques.

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "The Amateur Investigators of the American West," 29 Mar. 2018
Zinke fired back that the land carved away from the monuments is still under various federal protections, as wilderness areas, for example.

— the washington post, OregonLive.com, "Zinke: Oil, gas exploration off Oregon coast might not happen," 13 Mar. 2018
The Selinda Adventure Trail is a four-day walking and canoeing expedition offered May through September (for up to eight travelers) in the Selinda Spillway of Botswana’s Okavango Delta, one of Africa’s most pristine wilderness areas.

— leena kim, Town & Country, "Luxury Pop-Up Hotels Are the Ultimate New Travel Adventure," 13 Mar. 2018
Drone use and wilderness areas have been in conflict in recent years.

— megan geuss, Ars Technica, "Drone crashes in Arizona National Forest, starts a wildfire," 9 Mar. 2018
Non-native plant and insect species underlie many of the challenges facing parks and wilderness areas.

— jessica peralta, latimes.com, "Wildland restoration efforts intensify after recent canyon fires," 9 Feb. 2018
Authorities have ended their search for a missing 19-year-old college student in a large wilderness area in Southern California after a search and rescue team found no clues there, an Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman said Monday.

— tim stelloh, NBC News, "Authorities end search for UPenn student who vanished in California," 8 Jan. 2018
The two expired leases, which span 4,800 acres and date to 1966, lie on the southwest border of the 1.1 million-acre wilderness area.

— juliet eilperin, chicagotribune.com, "Trump administration renews mining leases near Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area," 23 Dec. 2017
The two expired leases, which span 4,800 acres and date to 1966, lie on the southwest border of the 1.1 million-acre wilderness area.

— juliet eilperin, The Seattle Times, "Trump administration renews mining leases near Minnesota wilderness area," 23 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wilderness area.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.