There are 600 miles (970 km) of hiking trails maintained in the wilderness, but with much of the terrain being steep and with many large mountain peaks to climb, many trails exist only to provide access to climbing routes. Camping is permitted as long as a distance of at least 200 feet (61 m) minimum is maintained away from lakes and streams. Due to the high altitude associated with this wilderness, it is not uncommon to have freezing weather, especially at night, any time of the year. In the summer months mosquitos can also be a problem.
The largest glaciers in Bridger-Teton National Forest are found in the wilderness. While lower slopes of the mountainsides are dominated by aspen and lodgepole pine, the upper altitudes include lodgepole pine, and numerous species of spruce and fir. Above the timberline at 10,300 feet (3,100 m), the plants are delicate and subject to high human impact and care must be used to stay on trails to minimize natural resource impact which can take decades or more for recovery. Infrequent and rare sightings of grizzly bears have been recorded but black bears are much more common. In addition, most of the megafauna originally indigenous to the region still exist in the wilderness including moose, elk, mule deer, wolverine, bighorn sheep and mountain lion. There have been unconfirmed reports of wolf sightings which may be true due to wolf reintroduction commenced in the late 20th century in Yellowstone National Park to the north. Numerous bird species are found including bald eagle, osprey, peregrine falcon and Clark's nutcracker. The streams have long been home to several species of trout, but stocking of the lakes has increased their numbers there along with mountain whitefish and grayling.
