John Muir Wilderness

The John Muir Wilderness is a nature reserve in California (USA). The 1964 Wilderness Area designated in 1984 and 2009 to its present size of around 2633 km ² enlarged territory located in the Sierra Nevada. It is named after the naturalist, philosopher, and conservationists John Muir named and extends from the Mammoth Mountains to the Mt Whitney in the Eastern Sierra.

The reserve surrounds of the east and north to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park and borders while in the southeast to the Golden Trout Wilderness, on the southwest by the Monarch Wilderness, on the west by the small Dinkey Lakes Wilderness and on the north by Ansel Adams Wilderness. The area belongs to the west of the ridge to the Sierra National Forest, east of the Inyo National Forest, two National Forest areas and is managed by the National Forestry by the U.S. Forest Service.

The John Muir Wilderness includes the highest peak in the Sierra Nevada, Mt Whitney and also the southernmost glacier in the United States in the Palisades group. The long-distance footpaths John Muir Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, as well as a number of smaller hiking trails run through the reserve. A total of approximately 950 km of hiking trails are maintained rudimentary. As in all Wilderness Areas there are no roads or tourist facilities. People are allowed only on foot or on horseback into the area. As one of very few wilderness reserves the John Muir Wilderness is relatively well attended, access is therefore regulated and who wants to go one of the longer routes and camp in the area, you need a permit, which must be ordered in large parts of the year months in advance.