Although camping and fishing are allowed with proper permit, no roads or buildings are constructed and there is also no logging or mining, in compliance with the 1964 Wilderness Act.

The Gates of the Mountains area was considered multiple times for inclusion in the national park system.

In 1922, Montana senator Thomas J. Walsh suggested the idea to National Park Service (NPS) director Stephen Mather, writing, "you must be familiar with the locality and with the wonderfully graphic account of its marvels and beauties found in the journal of Lewis and Clark.

"[2] Mather visited the site but decided that it lacked national significance and that local or state protection would be adequate to preserve it.

[2] The prominent gray cliffs along the Missouri River in the Gates of the Mountains are formed by Madison Limestone.