Birkhead Mountains Wilderness is a protected area in central North Carolina within Uwharrie National Forest, preserving 5,160 acres at the northern end of one of the oldest mountain ranges on the North American continent. Established in 1984, it also holds a long record of human presence, with evidence of Native American settlement dating back more than 12,000 years and the Catawba living there when Europeans entered the region. Later settlement followed the Ocaneechi Trail, and land assembled by John Watson Birkhead gave the area its name. Today it remains comparatively undeveloped and is managed for low-impact recreation and dispersed camping.