Wilderness area

Fortification Range Wilderness

Fortification Range Wilderness is a 30,539-acre wilderness area in Lincoln County, Nevada. It rises from about 6,065 to 8,429 ft. The nearest town is Mount Wilson, 15.3 miles away in a straight line.

Fortification Range Wilderness map

Fortification Range Wilderness boundary from USGS PAD-US or the managing agency, simplified for display. Not for navigation or legal boundaries.

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Fire restrictions

One fire restriction order is recorded for this unit as of Sept. 30, 2026. Each links the signed order.

  • BLM Nevada Prevention Order: BLM statewide restrictions Effective May 1, 2026. Applies to all BLM and Forest Service land in Nevada. Prohibited: Possessing, discharging, using or allowing the use of fireworks, pyrotechnic or incendiary devices; possessing, discharging, igniting or causing to burn; explosives or explosive material, including binary explosive targets; discharging a firearm using tracer, incendiary, or steel-component ammunition. [Use of tracer or incendiary ammunition is always prohibited on public lands]; operating or using any internal or external combustion engine without a spark arresting device properly installed, maintained and in effective working order.

Nevada Fire Info, BLM Nevada's interagency fire site, keeps the Nevada fire restrictions map and signed orders for every fire zone, and a Nevada fire map of active fires.

Common questions

Mount Wilson, NV is the nearest town, 15.3 miles in a straight line from the boundary (not a driving distance). The wilderness.net page for this area places it about 50 miles southeast of Ely.
The highest ground in Fortification Range Wilderness is about 8,429 ft, and its lowest about 6,065 ft (USGS 3DEP elevation model). Its highest named summit is Patterson Peak, about 8,020 ft.

Who manages Fortification Range Wilderness

Agency Acres Permit Group size Stay limit Office
BLM 30,539 Not on record Not on record Not on record BLM Ely District Office, 775-289-1800

Getting to Fortification Range Wilderness

  • Mount Wilson, NV is the nearest town, 15.3 miles in a straight line from the boundary (not a driving distance). (US Census places, accessed 2026-09-25)
  • The wilderness.net page for this area places it about 50 miles southeast of Ely.
  • Access roads named on the area's wilderness.net page: US Highway 93, County Road 47, County Road 457.

Position, roads and vehicle notes: wilderness.net page for Fortification Range Wilderness, accessed 2026-09-25. Roads and conditions change; check with the managing office before driving in.

Named summits, canyons, and springs in Fortification Range Wilderness

  • Patterson Peak summit about 8,020 ft
  • Smiley Canyon canyon
  • Fortification Spring spring
  • Basin Spring spring

Features whose official location is inside the boundary, from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, accessed 2026-09-25. Summit elevations measured on the USGS 3DEP elevation model, which can read a few feet under a surveyed summit height.

Other wilderness areas in Nevada

Nevada wilderness areas