Red Buttes Wilderness is a protected backcountry area in the Klamath and Rogue River national forests along the California-Oregon border on the Siskiyou Crest. Named for the iron- and magnesium-rich Red Buttes peak, it spans varied elevations, ancient metamorphic geology, glacially formed basins, diverse forests, and important headwaters feeding both the Klamath and Rogue systems. People used this landscape for thousands of years, from Native American travel and hunting to later mining, trapping, grazing, and Forest Service trail building. Federally protected since 1984, it remains a remote destination for hiking, camping, horseback riding, wildlife watching, and a site preserving traces of both deep and recent history.