Wilderness areas do not allow motorized or mechanical equipment, including bicycles, hang-gliders, wagons, chainsaws, and game carts.

The forests are dominated by various species of spruce, fir, and pine, while in the Beartooth Mountains, due to the altitude, tundra conditions often prevail.

Animals found in the wilderness include bald eagles, Yellowstone cutthroat trout, threatened grizzly bears, lynx, and the gray wolf.

[6] In a study of reaction of learning how large carnivores would react to the big-game hunting season in Yellowstone National Park, a group of scientists found out that grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) usually stay inside the Yellowstone National Park and start moving north (into the Absaroka - Beartooth Wilderness) when the hunting starts.

[4] The widespread detection of total coliforms, Bacteroides, and E coli in the water sources of the wilderness area is leading to the question of whether it's because of the increasing human visitation.