Top Places

Last Great Places database allows for filters and factor weightings to identify varied subsets of great places. Following are initial sets of “top 10” places in several categories.

Last of the Least – top places for imperiled species

Best of the Rest – top places for diverse, intact and healthy ecosystems

Nature’s Stage – top places for enduring landscape diversity

Last of the Wild – top places for low human footprint

National Parks – gems of the Last Great Places

Top Wilderness Areas & Wildlife Refuges

Click on a Place name link in the list below for detailed information on Wilderness Areas and National Wildlife Refuges ranked in the top 50 Last Great Places.

Wilderness Areas (not all top 50 yet listed)
John Muir WildernessSierra Nevada
Gila WildernessAZ-NM Mountains
Absaroka-Beartooth WildernessUtah-Wyoming Mtns
Mazatzal WildernessApache Highlands
Weminuche WildernessSouthern Rockies
Bob Marshall WildernessCanadian Rockies
Frank Church-River Of No Return Wilderness Middle Rockies-Blue Mtns
Ventana WildernessCA Central Coast
Four Peaks WildernessSonoran Desert
Pasayten WildernessOkanagan
Bridger WildernessUtah-Wyoming Mtns
Three Sisters WildernessWest Cascades
Trinity Alps WildernessKlamath Mtns
Boundary Waters Canoe Area WildernessSuperior Mixed Forest
National Wildlife Refuges
Okefenokee National Wildlife RefugeSo. Atlantic Coast
Charles M. Russell National Wildlife RefugeNorthern Great Plains Steppe
Sheldon National Wildlife RefugeColumbia Plateau