Cottonwood Point (East) Wilderness Area

Cottonwood Point Wilderness Area is a 3,161-acre federally protected wilderness in Arizona managed by the Bureau of Land Management. This primitive backcountry area is closed to all motorized and mechanized travel, offering hikers and backpackers a genuine solitude experience in undeveloped terrain. The landscape reflects the character of Arizona's high-desert and canyon country, where foot travel is the only way to explore.

Visitors should understand that wilderness designation means no roads, vehicles, mountain bikes, or mechanized equipment of any kind. You'll navigate by map and compass, camp in dispersed sites, and pack out everything you pack in—Leave No Trace principles are both ethic and law here. Access typically requires a short approach hike from nearby trailheads or roads, but once you enter, you're in true backcountry. Spring and fall offer the most pleasant conditions, though summer is viable at higher elevations and winter can bring snow and cold at altitude.