It is located within the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in Williamson, Union, and Jackson counties in Illinois.

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service manages the wilderness.

The Crab Orchard Wilderness is a roadless parcel of land within a national wildlife refuge.

Together with the adjacent Panther Den Wilderness, it forms part of the southern shore of Devils Kitchen Lake.

The nearest divided highway is Interstate 57, which passes through the nearby city of Marion, Illinois.