Santa Rosa Wilderness, Protected wilderness area in Riverside County, United States

Santa Rosa Wilderness covers 72,259 acres (292.42 km2) in the Santa Rosa Mountains of Riverside and San Diego counties, between La Quinta and Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Its terrain is formed by uplifted blocks of igneous and metamorphic rock between the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults, with steep-walled canyons cut by perennial streams that support fan palm oases. Congress designated it in 1984; the US Forest Service manages 13,801 acres and the Bureau of Land Management 58,458 acres.

The wilderness area was established through the California Wilderness Act of 1984 and later expanded with additional land through the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. These legislative protections secured the reserve's future as a natural space.

The area holds many Native American archaeological sites, including ancient game trails, roasting pits, milling stations, rock shelters, and rock art that reveal the long human history here.

The wilderness is jointly managed by the US Forest Service (13,801 acres in San Bernardino National Forest) and the Bureau of Land Management (58,458 acres). The Cactus Spring Trail, an ancient aboriginal pathway, links the Santa Rosa plateau with the Coachella Valley desert floor and connects west to San Bernardino National Forest wilderness. Hunting is restricted to the southern half, since the northern portion lies within a State Wildlife Refuge.

The Bighorn Institute, a research group founded in 1982 by biologists and veterinarians, estimates about 60 adult peninsular bighorn sheep in the Santa Rosa Mountains, within a total of roughly 800 in the Peninsular Ranges north of Mexico. The subspecies has been protected under California law since 1971 and federally since 1998.