Sipsey Wilderness in northwestern Alabama, within Bankhead National Forest around the Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River, is the state's largest and most visited wilderness area and the first designated east of the Mississippi River. Created in 1975 and later enlarged, it is known for rugged plateau terrain, many waterfalls, second-growth forest, and important pockets of old growth. It also played a major role in eastern conservation history, as efforts led by Mary Ivy Burks and others helped secure protection and shape the Eastern Wilderness Movement, proving restored eastern lands could deserve wilderness status alongside less altered western landscapes.