The Hunting Camp Creek Wilderness is an area protected by the Eastern Wilderness Act of Congress to maintain its present, natural condition. As part of the wilderness system, it helps to preserve a variety of natural life forms and contributes to a diversity of plant and animal gene pools. Over half of the ecosystems in the United States exist within designated wilderness. Traversed by the Appalachian Trail, the wilderness spans two remote watersheds, giving the trail one of its wildest stretches in the southern Appalachians with an abundance of wildflowers and birdlife.