Hells Canyon Wilderness (Oregon and Idaho)

Hells Canyon Wilderness
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
From Heaven's Gate Overlook, near Riggins, Idaho
Location	Wallowa County, Oregon Idaho & Adams Counties, Idaho, U.S.
Nearest city	Grangeville, Idaho
Coordinates	45°32′56″N 116°30′04″W / 45.549°N 116.501°W / 45.549; -116.501[1]
Area	217,927 acres (881.92 km2)
Established	1975, 49 years ago
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management

The Hells Canyon Wilderness is a wilderness area in the western United States, in Idaho and Oregon. Created 49 years ago in 1975, the Wilderness is managed by both the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service and contains some of the most spectacular sections of the Snake River as it winds its way through Hells Canyon, North America's deepest river gorge^[2] and one of the deepest gorges on Earth. The Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984 added additional acreage and currently the area protects a total area of 217,927 acres (88,192 ha).^[3] It lies entirely within the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area except for a small 946-acre (383 ha) plot in southeastern Wallowa County, Oregon which is administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The area that is administered by the Forest Service consists of portions of (in descending order of acreage) the Wallowa, Nez Perce, Payette, and Whitman National Forests.^[4]