The Dardanelles and Freel Roadless Areas are located 7 miles (11 km) and 3 miles (4.8 km), respectively, south of Lake Tahoe, California, and both are managed by the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the US Forest Service.These areas are contiguous, separated only by the corridor of highway 89.

The historic Hawley Grade, an immigrant wagon road, now a hiking trail, is within the Dardanelles Roadless Area, as well as the watershed of Lake Tahoe's largest inflow, the Upper Truckee River.

It allowed reasonable exceptions for management activities like fire suppression and other public health safety measures, and permitted projects, such as mining, with valid existing rights to proceed.

[1] At the same time, the national roadless rule attempted to conserve fish and wildlife habitat while not closing any existing access to these lands.

[2] This 14,500-acre (59 km2) set aside is managed as a nonwilderness, nonmotorized roadless recreation area and is second only to nearby Desolation Wilderness in popularity in the Lake Tahoe region.

Built to convey miners and the like to the Mother Lode country, the Hawley Grade was a reverse route as well when the 1859 discovery of silver happened in Nevada territory.

It begins near the Upper Truckee River, then turns northward through vegetation of Jeffrey pine, huckleberry oak, alder and bracket fern.

The area is named for Freel Peak, which rises to 10,843 feet[10] elevation and is both the highest point in the Lake Tahoe Basin and in the Carson Range.