Designated in 1975 and expanded in 1988, 24,922-acre (10,086 ha) Sipsey is the largest and most frequently visited Wilderness area in Alabama and contains dozens of waterfalls.

[2] The wilderness consists of the low plateau of Brindlee Mountain which is dissected into a rough landscape by several creeks and rivers.

The most significant are about 260 acres (110 ha) along Bee Branch Gorge and Buck Rough Canyon, which include old Eastern Hemlock, American Beech, Sweet Birch, White Oak, and Tulip Poplar.

Mary Ivy Burks of Birmingham worked to establish a Sipsey Wilderness Area in the Bankhead National Forest at a time when many[who?]

It was not considered feasible to fully repair the trail system at the time and efforts were focused on more popular routes.

The Battle for Alabama's Wilderness; Saving the Great Gymnasiums of Nature, by John N. Randolph