[4] The Nez Perce people lived in Idaho as early as 6000 BCE, and the area that is now the Gospel Hump Wilderness was used by them long before the arrival of settlers.

A quartz vein at the base of Buffalo Hump was discovered in 1898, which sparked a gold rush before mining subsided in 1903.

[2] The wilderness was formally established on February 24, 1978 when Congress passed Public Law 95-237.

These two large Wilderness areas are separated only by a single dirt road (the Magruder Corridor), connecting Red River, Idaho to Darby, Montana.

Negating the Magruder Corridor, the Selway-Bitterroot, Gospel Hump and Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Areas constitute the largest intact piece of wildland in the United States outside of Alaska.

[8] Rock units in the wilderness include gneiss along the Salmon River, the Hood Quartzite and Yellowjacket Formation (Precambrian in age), and undifferentiated granite of the Idaho Batholith.

Elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, black bears, mountain lions, mountain goats, gray wolves, moose, and bighorn sheep are large mammals found in the wilderness.