Cool map. Reminds me of a story, but that can wait a sec.... Different folks have different definitions for "wilderness".
In the US, wilderness with a capital W is official, government set aside Wilderness. IMO, most people use the wilderness word incorrectly. They do not mean Wilderness as defined by The Wilderness Act of 1964. Included in the official act are the words... "A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." As stumphugger mentioned those are severely restricted. The actual act prohibits "mechanized" access. That means not only no motorized vehicles but also no bicycles. Horses, yes. Wheelchairs, no. Don't forget all the WSA's, Wilderness Study Areas, that are governed by rules just about as restrictive as the Wilderness Areas.
At one point in time a decade or more ago in the state of UT there was a primitive dirt road that penetrated through two Wilderness areas. One was an actual declared Wilderness and the other was a WSA. The road, maintained by the county was the geographical divider between the two. So yes, it was possible to drive "through" Wilderness.
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The National Forests cover a lot of land that many folks consider to be wilderness. National Forests have a lot of developed campsites, some are dry, some have flush toilets. Most NF's have also implemented their Travel Management plans which includes travel restrictions with the closing of many of the traditional routes. There are Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM) available for most forests; most because not all have completed their plans. A list is available on a
FS website. Many of the maps are available by download but a paper map must be picked up in person at a local FS office. No mailing on those
free maps. The other maps you buy do not have the detail that the MVUM's have. The MVUM's include data on where you may camp using the FS Dispersed camping rules. That is, camping anywhere in the National Forest OUTSIDE of a designated campground. Well not quite anywhere because there are restrictions.
All that info can be found on assorted NF websites.
The story.... A few decades ago the somewhat offbeat editors at Car & Driver Magazine decided they wanted to find where the official "middle of nowhere" in the USA was located. They enlisted the help of an undergrad to use US Census data to find the point that was furthest from anyone recorded in the previous national census. I've never been able to find the article since. The point they located to be the Middle of Nowhere was in SE Utah. They finished the article by making a road trip with a Land Rover donated for road test purposes by Land Rover USA. They did some damage and never were able to drive to the "official" point. Too many ravines, etc. If my memory is any good it was a difficult hike too.
by rowerwet » Sun Apr 20, 2014 1:57 pm 
