Wilderness

Wild grasses and flowers are in the foreground as a white sand island extends into the distance. — Wilderness Islands offer a unique opportunity for solitude.
NPS Photo

Ten miles offshore, wilderness barrier islands provide opportunities for people to experience quiet and solitude. Places to observe wildlife. Places to explore. Places to escape the daily life. Places to preserve uninhibited wilderness, and all of the birds, mammals, fish, and wildlife that goes along with it.

Horn Island and Petit Bois Island were designated in 1978 as the Gulf Islands Wilderness because they, “include the only remaining examples of undisturbed natural coast and off-coast islands along the entire northern Gulf.” The wilderness areas in Gulf Islands National Seashore are among increasingly few wild places left on Earth, where humans are merely visitors instead of permanent residents.

A remote island with sparse vegetation is seen from the water.

Horn Island Wilderness

Learn about the Horn Island Wilderness.

Small waves crash from left to right on to a barrier island with vegetated dunes to the right.

Petit Bois Island Wilderness

Learn about Petit Bois Island Wilderness.

Visit the Islands

Horn Island

Located off the Mississippi coast, one of the best wilderness islands in the country.
Petit Bois Island

A wilderness island in the Gulf of Mexico just off the coast of Mississippi.
Sail Away for a night
Boat-In Camping

Find your backcountry camping experience by boat.