James Robert Terrell | Escudilla Wilderness

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each afternoon in September, in honor of the 50^th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, we’re spotlighting three of Arizona’s 90 wilderness areas. For more information about any of the state’s wilderness areas, visit Wilderness.net, a collaboration between several wilderness-related organizations. The information here comes from that site and the wilderness areas’ managing agencies. Always contact the managing agency before visiting a wilderness to learn about any restrictions that may be in effect. To see our entire Wild Arizona series, click here. 

Escudilla Wilderness
The 2011 Wallow Fire burned much of this wilderness’ namesake mountain, but it’s already renewing itself, with aspen thickets and native grasses growing amid burned trees. Large elk herds can be found on Escudilla Mountain, and naturalist Aldo Leopold wrote about the peak in A Sand County Almanac.

Location: North of Alpine
Established: 1984
Size: 5,200…