The Ansel Adams Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Sierra Nevada of California, United States. The wilderness spans ; 33.9% of the territory lies in the Inyo National Forest, 65.8% is in the Sierra National Forest, and the remaining 0.3% covers nearly all of Devils Postpile National Monument. Yosemite National Park lies to the north and northwest, while the John Muir Wilderness lies to the south.
History
The wilderness was established as part of the original Wilderness Act in 1964 as the Minarets Wilderness. The Minarets Wilderness was created by enlarging and renaming the Mount Dana-Minarets Primitive Area.
In 1984, after his death, the area was expanded and renamed in memory of Ansel Adams, well-known environmentalist and nature photographer who is famous for his black-and-white landscape photographs of the Sierra Nevada.
Geography and geology
The Ansel Adams wilderness spans in elevation from , forming the northern end of the High Sierra.
The centerpiece of the Ansel Adams wilderness is the Ritter Range, which includes dark metavolcanic glaciated mountains such as Mount Ritter, Banner Peak, and The Minarets.
Immediately to the east of the Ritter Range is the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River, Period of Record: 1924-2010
Ecology
The Ansel Adams wilderness contains substantial area above treeline, at approximately . The area above treeline contains alpine meadows and fellfields, with a large number of glacial lakes. Below treeline, the wilderness is dominated by lodgepole pine, red fir, and Jeffrey pine, depending on elevation.
thumb|right|Alger Lakes and Mount San Joaquin in the northern end of the wilderness
Recreation
The wilderness contains of hiking trails, including portions of the John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails.
The Middle Fork of the San Joaquin receives the most visitors: a mandatory bus is required for visitors to reach Devils Postpile from the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area during the summer.
The Minarets are a well-known area for technical rock climbing.