North Santa Teresa Wilderness

A couloir on Jacksomn Mountain

North Santa Teresa Wilderness is a 5,800-acre property sandwiched in between private land and the San Carlos Indian Reservation. On North Santa Teresa Wilderness is Black Rock, a spectacular 1,000-foot-high volcanic monolith that has special spiritual significance for the San Carlos Apaches. Problem is, non-Native Americans have vandalized the rock in the past. The Black Rock "plug" is about one-mile long and a good part of it is encircled by cliffs several hundred feet high.

Jackson Mountain, in the southeast section of North Santa Teresa Wilderness, is the high point - 5,890 feet at the summit. Most of the property is dense with mountain and desert shrubbery, grassland and riparian vegetation along the stream corridors.

There is no open public access to North Santa Teresa Wilderness. To visit the property you'll need to get permission from either one of the adjacent private land owners or from the San Carlos Apache tribal government (and they don't grant permission easily).

7.5-Minute Topo Map: Jackson Mountain

A climber working his way to the top of a boulder in North Santa Teresa Wilderness
A climber plying his trade on Jackson Mountain
A static map of the North Santa Theresa Wilderness area

Photos courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management
Area map courtesy of National Geographic Topo!