Wild places > Central Sierra: Regional Map

Waterhouse Potential Addition to the Emigrant Wilderness

Size: Approximately 5,179 acres

Managing agency: Stanislaus National Forest

Location: Along the northwestern edge of the Emigrant Wilderness in Tuolumne County.

Description:

• The Waterhouse area contains the upper watershed of the South Fork Stanislaus River. This river provides drinking and irrigation water to residents and farmers of the foothills and Central Valley.
• This area contains popular recreational areas including Cleo's Bath and many other pools along the South Fork Stanislaus River.
• Some of the most recent sightings of sensitive furbearers have occurred here.

The Waterhouse proposed wilderness contains Cleo's Bath and other highly popular pools and cascades along the South Fork Stanislaus River and Herring Creek. The most prominent feature of Waterhouse is its open, park-like granite canyon. Pinecrest Lake, within this area, is one of California's most heavily visited destinations, yet just upstream and around a ridge begins this remote, lightly used wildland of grandeur and panoramic beauty. The Waterhouse area is composed mainly of one vast granite canyon, sliced by the South Fork Stanislaus River, with the upper slopes and rim of the canyon covered by patches of pristine conifer forest.

Many of the Stanislaus National Forest's best sightings of sensitive furbearer species, such as fisher, marten, wolverine, and Sierra Nevada red fox, come from within or close to this wild area.

In addition to protecting wildlife habitat, wilderness designation would help maintain the purity of the upper watershed of the South Fork Stanislaus River, where snowmelt eventually becomes the water supply for residents and farmers of the foothills and Central Valley.

For additional information, please contact:
John Buckley
Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center
Box 396
Twain Harte, CA 95383
Phone: (209) 586-7440
Email: cserc@sonnet.com
www.cserc.org