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.

Rising as much as 1,500 feet (460 m) in places, the Chinese Wall, a portion of the expansive Rocky Mountain Front, stretches a distance of 20 miles (32 km) through the wilderness.

With elevations between 5,000 to 9,000 feet (1,500 to 2,700 m) or more above sea level, the wilderness lies just west of the Great Plains, and from the higher mountaintops the views to the east extend for 70 miles (110 km) .

The wolf and grizzly call the wilderness home as do black bears, moose, elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep and mule deer.

Rare sightings of wolverine and mountain lions are possible along with bald eagles, peregrine falcons, trumpeter swans and pelicans.