{"id":40167,"date":"2018-11-05T09:09:50","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T17:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=40167"},"modified":"2025-11-21T09:22:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T17:22:25","slug":"is-the-john-muir-trail-being-loved-to-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/is-the-john-muir-trail-being-loved-to-death","title":{"rendered":"Is the John Muir Trail Being Loved to Death?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On May 17, 1915, California Governor Hiram Johnson signed a bill authorizing \u00a0the allocation of funds to build the John Muir Trail (JMT). At the outset, the plan was to build a 211-mile alpine pathway that would span from Yosemite National Park to the summit of Mt. Whitney, meandering through rugged, untamed landscapes along the way. In <\/span>dedicating the project<\/span><\/a>, Johnson honored the trail\u2019s namesake, who passed away the year before, \u201cfor his inestimable service in making known to the world the wonders of the mountains of California.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The trail would be the result of many citizens\u2019 hard work, but considering John Muir\u2019s writing, stumping and lobbying efforts, perhaps nobody did more during that time period to kindle the fire of conservation among select groups of Americans\u2014or win the support for public lands\u2014than the iconic, wandering naturalist.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the early 1900s, many of Muir\u2019s contemporaries\u2014even fellow conservationists\u2014viewed public land through a lens of mixed uses, from logging, to grazing, to recreation. The Scotsman, however, had other ideas. \u201c<\/span>Government protection should be thrown around every wild grove and forest on the mountains, as it is around every private orchard, and the trees in public parks. To say nothing of their value as fountains of timber, they are worth infinitely more t<\/span>han all the gardens and parks of towns<\/span>,\u201d he wrote in <\/span>John of the Mountains<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1938, the JMT was completed, but it wasn\u2019t until the Wilderness Act passed in 1964 that the JMT Wilderness was officially enshrined and <\/span>protected<\/span><\/a>. Thus, for much of its 80-year history, public impact was minimal. But with the advent of population growth and a renewed, social-media-fueled interest in going outside, the JMT is <\/span>beginning to strain<\/span><\/a> under the weight of its own popularity.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Demands for permits to hike the John Muir Trail have spiked in recent years. (Photo Credit: John Dittli\/JMTF)<\/p><\/div>\n

These days, it\u2019s not uncommon to discover unauthorized campsites or discarded human waste on the trail or sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic while driving into Yosemite National Park, where the JMT originates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marla Stark, an attorney and tech industry veteran, discovered these impacts firsthand in 2016 while hiking a section of the trail from Independence to Muir Trail Ranch. Surrounded by granite towers, lost lakes and wildflowers beyond count, the trail\u2019s natural beauty mesmerized her, but she was also shocked by the visceral human impacts around her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Along her 88-mile trek, Stark witnessed poorly maintained trails, overcrowded campsites and many areas closed entirely due to human-caused degradation and damage. \u201cYou could see the footprint of humans everywhere,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

From 2014 to 2015, demand for permits to hike the JMT jumped 242 percent, according to the <\/span>National Park Service<\/span><\/a>. Spread over the jurisdiction of two national parks, two national forests, wilderness areas and four federal land management agencies, the JMT covers a massive swath of public land. Hikers must navigate a complex backcountry permitting system, which local guides and land managers say makes it ripe for abuse, partial neglect and overcrowding. <\/span><\/p>\n

Upon returning from her trip, Stark organized a coalition of partners to fight for the area\u2019s preservation, ultimately founding the<\/span> John Muir Trail Foundation<\/span><\/a>, which formally launched in May of 2018. \u201cThe partnering of private foundations with the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service is fundamental to caring for our public parks and trails,\u201d she said. \u201cYet, there was no foundation or nonprofit associated with the JMT. The trail is so iconic, so deeply connected to California and American conservation and is such a fragile high-elevation wilderness \u2026 the need was clear.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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In a new TGR movie, snowboarders Jeremy Jones and Elena Hight embark on a winter journey through the John Muir Wilderness. (Photo Credit: Nick Kalisz\/TGR)<\/p><\/div>\n

Graham Ottley, general manager of Southern Yosemite Mountain Guides, which has been leading trips on the John Muir Trail since the early 1990s, said the issue of overuse has gotten worse over the last five years. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a really dramatic increase,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He cites the competitiveness of the permitting process as one factor, but Ottley also suspects social media platforms are propagating the demand. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing that\u2019s more newsworthy for someone\u2019s life than doing something out of the ordinary\u2014getting outside\u2014and that translates into posting about it online. So, what used to be these sacred places that took a huge effort to reach\u2014you can now experience that on your desktop or phone. That really translates to people finding out about these places and having more exposure to the more remote recesses of the Sierra,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n