The John Muir Trail: A History and Survey

The Sierra Club took the lead in defining the route in the 1890s-1910s, securing authorization and funding from the State of California in 1915, and collaborating with the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service on the trail’s design and construction. A preliminary route was opened in 1916 and the final segment of the original construction was completed in 1938.

The JMT lies entirely within protected public reservations: Yosemite National Park, Devils Postpile National Monument, Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, Inyo National Forest, and Sierra National Forest. The Forest Service sections include portions of Ansel Adams Wilderness and John Muir Wilderness. The majority of the JMT was incorporated in the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail in 1968.

This Story Map highlights some of the documentation of the John Muir Trail completed by the  Historic American Landscapes Survey , a part of the  National Park Service 's  Heritage Documentation Programs .

Additional historic imagery was provided by the  NPS  Historic Photograph Collection,  Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks ,  Sierra National Forest History and Culture ,  Library of Congress ,  National Archives San Francisco ,  California State Archives ,  Marin County Free Library , and  Sierra Club William E. Colby Memorial Library .

Funding for this presentation provided by the  NPS Alternative Transportation Program  and the  Sierra Club Foundation .

In 1851 a militia company pursuing a Miwok band known as the Ahwaneeches or Yo-Semites followed the Mono trail to the group’s villages far up the Merced River, become the first party of Whites to enter Yosemite Valley. Another company ventured deep into the Sierra along the San Joaquin River and its northern tributaries, following portions of the ancient path leading toward Mammoth Pass.

The first tourist party arrived in 1855, guided along the old trail by two Yosemite Indians. As word of Yosemite’s wonders spread, the Mann Brothers constructed a toll trail from Mariposa to the valley, following the historic route much of the way. Free trails were constructed from Coulterville and Big Oak Flat, incorporating portions of traditional American Indian trails.

In 1864 Congress ceded Yosemite Valley and nearby Mariposa Grove to the State of California, stipulating that the reservation be preserved “for public use, resort, and recreation.”  Private interests constructed trails to popular features such as Glacier Point and Nevada Falls. Wagon roads supplanted bridle trails as the primary means of access to Yosemite Valley in 1874, dramatically increasing the park’s popularity.

While tourists focused on Yosemite Valley and neighboring groves of giant sequoias, prospectors, sheep herders, and cattle ranchers made their way into the remotest reaches of the Sierra Nevada in search of precious minerals and free pasturage on public lands. Short-lived mining booms lead to the construction of what would become known as the Tioga Road providing access to Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadows and the improvement of the old Mammoth Pass trade route across the center of the range. Further south, prospectors from Owens Valley led the way in transforming the trade route over Kearsarge Pass into a major trans-Sierra trail providing access to magnificent mountain scenery and the Yosemite-rivaling Kings Canyon.

Cattle grazing was restricted to lower and middle elevations, but sheep herders ranged throughout the High Sierra. The pursuit of fresh pastures led them to remote meadows guarded by treacherous passes that would pose formidable obstacles to later trail builders. 

The sheep herders undoubtedly found traces of American Indian trails, but they often relied on their own intuition or followed their woolly charges as they pursued the path of least resistance through seemingly impassable terrain. Flocks of sheep could compact soils and clear out brush leaving a more obvious path to follow. Large operations constructed log bridges at major river crossings along established trunk routes.

The vast majority of today’s JMT follows routes employed by sheep herders, though significant improvements were required to adapt primitive tracks and traces to recreational travel. While much of the route was obvious, there were many locations where the sheep herders’ trails were so obscure that JMT route-finders strained to find evidence of prior passage – or to believe that simple flock-tenders dared to attempt such ambitious ascents.

The sheepherders were unexcelled in their knowledge of the High Sierra, but the environmental impacts of large-scale grazing created a campaign to preserve a much larger territory than the original Yosemite reservation.

The foremost critic of sheep herding and other threats to California wilderness was John Muir who arrived in Yosemite in 1868 and gained increasing fame as America’s leading interpreter of natural landscapes and an outspoken advocate for national parks in general. Muir’s efforts to rid the mountains of “hoofed locusts” led to the authorization of Yosemite National Park in 1890. The movement he spearheaded also resulted in the creation of Sequoia and General Grant National Parks in 1890 and establishment of the Sierra Forest Reserve in 1893.

Since the National Park Service was not created until 1916, U.S. Army troops served as the initial custodians of the newly created national parks. The troops waged a long-running game of cat-and-mouse with sheepherders, who used their superior knowledge of the terrain to advantage. 

The army eventually gained the upper hand, banishing the flocks and marking and mapping some major sheep herder trails and patrol routes. These were some of the first practical maps and improved trails in much of the Yosemite and Sequoia backcountry. Forest rangers conducted similar activities in the intervening Forest Reserve, which was reorganized as a collection of National Forest units beginning in 1905.

Solomons set forth on his first trip with a tennis-playing friend, starting from Yosemite Valley in August 1892. As they made their way up the well-traveled Sunrise Trail, his companion begged off at Cathedral Meadow. Solomons and his pack mule proceeded through Tuolumne Meadows and up along the Lyell Fork, crossing what later became known as Donahue Pass, climbing Mount Ritter, camping near Thousand Island Lake and proceeding southeast along the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin to Devils Postpile. Traces of old sheep trails afforded guidance along with blazes left by military patrols. After crossing the Mammoth Trail near Reds Meadow, he followed another old sheep trail into Fish Creek Valley. Solomons lost the trail on the south side of the cleft and spent several days unsuccessfully searching for a way to cross the deep gorge formed by the South Fork of the San Joaquin. The despondent and famished explorer was eventually rescued by a sheep herder, who fed him and provided directions to a well-worn trail leading to the Miller & Lux bridge across the San Joaquin and back to civilization

In 1894 Solomons and another companion proceeded directly along the Miller & Lux sheep trail to the South Fork of the San Joaquin, following what was known as the “High Trail” to the end of the company’s range on the divide north of Mono Creek. After descending to a broad bowl they christened Vermillion Valley and crossing the still-used Indian trade route along Mono Creek they made their way over the Bear Creek Divide and reached the summit of Seven Gables before deciding the terrain directly south toward the Goddard Divide was too steep and dangerous for the proposed animal route. On their return to Bear Creek they were overcome by a blizzard. Abandoning most of their food and gear, along with Solomons' large-format camera, they spent several days struggling back to the South Fork and were in dire straits until a sheep herder fed them, warmed them, and sent them on a more direct path back to the nearest outpost, where they hitched a ride on a lumber wagon to Fresno.

Solomons made significant progress in 1895. He retraced the previous year’s route, reaffirmed his conclusion that there was no practical passage across the Bear Creek/Piute Creek divide, then dropped back to the South Fork of the San Joaquin, which they followed until it divided at the base of a steep bluff, where they climbed alongside the branch that tumbled down past a series of striking cascades. They came upon a hidden valley flanked by impressive peaks, which Solomons named Evolution Valley. Solomons followed the stream upward into a barren basin, where he saw a slight gap in the surrounding ramparts that appeared to afford a means of achieving the elusive goal of surmounting the Goddard Divide. Since the direct approach was obstructed by deep snow, he headed for the summit of Mt. Goddard instead. A fierce storm drove them off the mountain and down a tortuous ravine to the Middle Fork of the Kings River.  Since well-known trails connected the Middle Fork with main South Fork of the Kings, Solomons had achieved his goal, though the southern portions of the route were further from the Sierra Crest than originally envisioned. 

Solomons shared his findings through articles in the Sierra Club Bulletin and other publications. He also produced numerous large-format photographs and a meticulously rendered map, which the Sierra Club displayed for many years. These materials have been preserved in the University of California’s Bancroft Library but are not available for digital distribution.  

Joseph N. LeConte relied on Solomons’ map, his own explorations, and additional sources to produce the Sierra Club’s 1896 “Map of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Central California and Yosemite Valley,” which served as the most accurate guide to the High Sierra for many years

Stanford art professor Bolton Coit Brown took up where Solomons left off, exploring the headwaters of the Middle and South Forks of the Kings River in search of scenic highlights and practical passes. He was also more accomplished mountaineer, engaging in arduous alpine ascents. 

Brown’s wonderfully illustrated accounts helped prepare the way for the JMT’s route through the region from South Fork of the Kings River through the Rae Lakes basin, over Glen Pass and on to the Bighorn Plateau, though he crossed the Kings- Kern Divide west of the eventual route. He also forged a more direct connection between the Middle and South Fork by way of Cartridge Creek, which served as a temporary detour before construction of the Golden Staircase provided access to Palisade Lakes and Mather Pass.

The third major contributor to the JMT’s original routing was Joseph N. “Little Joe” LeConte. Introduced to Yosemite at a young age by his father, the noted geologist and Muir associate Joseph LeConte, the younger LeConte played a leading role in mapping and exploring the High Sierra. As with Solomons, he often relied on traces left by sheepherders, but LeConte and his friends made numerous first ascents of lofty peaks, from which they took topographic readings and plotted further adventures.

By 1906 LeConte had charted most of the terrain covered by Solomons and Brown and filled in several key gaps, most notably the stretch from Palisades Creek up the Middle Fork of the Kings to the lower portions of the canyon that would eventually bear his name. In 1904 he made his way from Evolution Valley to the gap in the Goddard Divide later known as Muir Pass, but one look at the “savage black gorges” to the south convinced him to save that challenge for another day. Muir Pass was officially first crossed by a U. S. Geological Society party led by George R. Davis in 1907, though the shepherd “Little Pete” Giraud may have escorted U.S. Forest Service Ranger Richard Bigelow over the perilous terrain two years earlier.

State Engineer William F. McClure was charged with overseeing the project, though the trail would lie entirely on federal land. McClure worked closely with Sierra Club leaders and NPS and US Forest Service officials to develop cooperative agreements for the construction and determine the official route. McClure made several inspection trips but leaned heavily on LeConte’s advice for the general routing.  

Most of the early JMT construction was administered by USFS officials who fine-tuned the alignment and oversaw seasonal trail crews. The most challenging obstacle during this phase was “Barrier Rock” – a sheer cliff extending across LeConte Canyon. The trail crew blasted a path down the cliff during the summer of 1917, opening the Muir Pass section to recreational travel.

A suspension bridge was also built across Piute Creek to facilitate travel along the South Fork of the Kings River. Two additional bridges were built further up the South Fork of the San Joaquin.

The “Muir Trail 1917” carving on a boulder beside the trail is a JMT landmark.

One of the most challenging sections of the JMT was the approach to Mt. Whitney. The route was laid out by NPS assistant engineer Jack Diehl and trail crew foreman R. E. Banks. Working primarily with hand tools through thin air and extreme weather, the trail crew made their way up the steep approach and across the rugged ridge, camping at 13,600’ during the 1930 construction season. 

The JMT coincides with High Sierra Trail for its last 11.7 miles and shares the ridgetop route with the Mt. Whitney Trail from Owens Valley. A major celebration was held when the combined paths reached the summit, though considerable work remained to be done on both trails.

Watch the documentary  Gentle Ribbon of Rock: Building the High Sierra Trail 

Forester Pass was another major challenge. The steep southern face required extensive blasting and retaining wall construction. Tragedy struck in 1930 when trail crew member Donald Downs died from injuries sustained in a blasting accident. Downs was memorialized by a plaque donated by his coworkers, which can be seen near the base of the pass today

The first recorded long-distance trip on the newly designated JMT was undertaken by a group headed by NPS Director Stephen Mather in August 1916. Mather’s “mountain party” went by horseback from Tuolumne Meadows to Giant Forest. Since the trail over Muir Pass was incomplete, they took the arduous route over Hell for Sure Pass to Tehipite Valley and on to Kings Canyon.

NPS Chief Publicist Robert Sterling Yard gave each participant a commemorative photo album.

The National Park Service saw the John Muir Trail as a means of emphasizing the importance of expanding Sequoia National Park to include Mt. Whitney and the headwaters of the Kings River. Mather hired landscape photographer Herbert Gleason to highlight the region's attractions attraction in 1919.

 The trail over Muir Pass was completed, but without a practical route over Mather Pass, the de facto John Muir Trail swung west at Bubbs Creek, descended into Kings Canyon and climbed over Granite Pass to rejoin the official route at the junction of Palisades Creek and the Middle Fork of the Kings.

In 1929 the new state highway engineer produced a map showing existing and proposed alterations to the official route. The principal changes involved shifting from Junction Pass and Shepherd Pass to Forester Pass and rerouting the trail from Fish Valley to incorporate the higher and more scenically appealing Lake Virginia and Purple Lake. Serious consideration was given to abandoning the challenging Palisades/Mather Pass route in favor of the lower and more accessible Cartridge Pass.

The first edition of Walter Starr’s iconic Guide to the John Muir Trail appeared in 1934. With the funding to construct the Palisades section uncertain, the official route was shifted to Cartridge Pass. Since the NPS was planning to upgrade Yosemite’s Tioga Road, additional options were provided to avoid traffic conflicts on that section of the route. 

The 1938 construction of the Golden Staircase finally allowed travelers with pack animals to enjoy the JMT as originally envisioned. In another major development, the Sunrise Trail became the official route to and from Yosemite Valley by the time Starr’s second edition appeared in 1943. The trail from Garnet Lake to Devils Postpile was also relocated to eliminate conflicts with automobile traffic, shifting to the high ground on the Middle Fork of the North Fork of the San Joaquin.

Since the 1950s several minor relocations have been made to move the trail out of fragile meadows, lakeshores, and water courses and to create a more sustainable treadway. The trail has also been reconstructed in many areas to produce a more durable and user-friendly surface. This is an ongoing process, as the JMT’s current managers strive to accommodate increased hiker traffic and evolving environmental concerns.