The John Muir Wilderness is a

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

that extends along the crest of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

for , in the Inyo and

Sierra National Forest Sierra National Forest is a U.S. national forest located on the western slope of central Sierra Nevada in Central California and bounded on the northwest by Yosemite National Park and the south by Kings Canyon National Park. The forest is kno ...

s. Established in 1964 by the

Wilderness Act The Wilderness Act of 1964 () was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a lon ...

and named for naturalist

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...

, it encompasses . The wilderness lies along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra from near

Mammoth Lakes Mammoth Lakes is a town in Mono County, California, and is the county's only incorporated community. It is located immediately to the east of Mammoth Mountain, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,191, r ...

and

Devils Postpile National Monument Devils Postpile National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located near Mammoth Mountain in Eastern California. The monument protects Devils Postpile, an unusual rock formation of columnar basalt, “all closely and perfectly fitted together ...

in the north, to Cottonwood Pass near

Mount Whitney Mount Whitney (Paiute: Tumanguya; ''Too-man-i-goo-yah'') is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of . It is in East–Central California, on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tu ...

in the south. The wilderness area also spans the Sierra crest north of

Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and renamed to Kings ...

, and extends on the west side of the park down to the

Monarch Wilderness The Monarch Wilderness (also Monarch Wilderness Complex) is a federally designated wilderness area located 70 miles east of Fresno, California, in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It encompasses within both the Sequoia National Forest and the S ...

Geography and geology

The wilderness contains some of the most spectacular and highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada, with 57 peaks over in elevation. The peaks are typically made of granite from the

Sierra Nevada Batholith The Sierra Nevada Batholith is a large batholith which forms the core of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, exposed at the surface as granite. The batholith is composed of many individual masses of rock called ''plutons'', which fo ...

, and are dramatically shaped by

glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

action. The southernmost glacier in the United States, the

Palisade Glacier The Palisade Glacier is a glacier located on the northeast side of the Palisades within the John Muir Wilderness in the central Sierra Nevada of California. The glacier descends from the flanks of four fourteeners, or mountain peaks over in elev ...

, is contained within the wilderness area. Notable east-side glaciated canyons are drained by

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, McGee and Bishop Creeks. Palisade Crest

The eastern escarpment in the wilderness rises from from base to peak, in . The Sierra crest contains peaks from in elevation, including

, the highest peak in the

continental United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

. Other notable mountains in the wilderness area include the Palisades and

Mount Humphreys Mount Humphreys is a mountain peak in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada on the Fresno County, California, Fresno-Inyo County, California, Inyo county line in the U.S. state of California. It is the 13th highest peak in California (the high ...

Mount Muir Mount Muir is a peak in the Sierra Nevada of California, south of Mount Whitney. This peak is named in honor of Scottish-born John Muir, a famous geologist, conservationist and founder of the Sierra Club. The southernmost section of the ...

is located 2 miles south of

Mount Williamson Mount Williamson, at an elevation of , is the second-highest mountain in both the Sierra Nevada range and the state of California, and the sixth-highest peak in the contiguous United States. Geography Williamson stands in the John Muir Wi ...

is the second-highest peak in the wilderness, at : it rises in one continuous sweep of granite from the floor of the

Owens Valley Owens Valley (Numic Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Pl ...

to a peak just east of the main range.

Ecology

The John Muir Wilderness contains the largest contiguous area above in the continental United States. It contains large areas of subalpine meadows and

fellfield A fellfield or fell field comprises the environment of a slope, usually alpine or tundra, where the dynamics of frost (freeze and thaw cycles) and of wind give rise to characteristic plant forms in scree interstices. Soil dynamics The freeze-thaw ...

s above , containing stands of whitebark and

foxtail pine ''Pinus balfouriana'', the foxtail pine, is a rare high-elevation pine that is endemic to California, United States. It is closely related to the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain bristlecone pines, in the subsection ''Balfourianae''. Descriptio ...

. From to , the wilderness is dominated by

lodgepole pine ''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpine, ...

s. Below the lodgepole forest is forest dominated by

Jeffrey pine ''Pinus jeffreyi'', also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja Califo ...

. Common animals in the wilderness include

yellow-bellied marmot The yellow-bellied marmot (''Marmota flaviventris''), also known as the rock chuck, is a large, stout-bodied ground squirrel in the marmot genus. It is one of fourteen species of marmots, and is native to mountainous regions of southwestern Cana ...

pika A pika ( or ; archaically spelled pica) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal found in Asia and North America. With short limbs, very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative, the rabbit, but wi ...

golden-mantled ground squirrel The golden-mantled ground squirrel (''Callospermophilus lateralis'') is a ground squirrel native to western North America. It is distributed in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and Alberta, and through much of the western United States. ...

Clark's nutcracker Clark's nutcracker (''Nucifraga columbiana''), sometimes referred to as Clark's crow or woodpecker crow, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to the mountains of western North America. The nutcracker is an omnivore, but subsists mai ...

golden trout The California golden trout (''Oncorhynchus aguabonita or Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita''), is a species of trout native to California. The golden trout is normally found in the Golden Trout Creek (tributary to the Kern River), Volcano Creek (t ...

, and black bears. The wilderness area also includes California bighorn sheep zoological areas, which are set aside for the protection of the species.

Recreation

The wilderness contains of hiking trails, including the

John Muir Trail The John Muir Trail (JMT) (Northern Paiute language, Paiute: Nüümü Poyo, ''N-ue-mue Poh-yo'') is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, ...

and the

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

, which run through the wilderness from north to south. The John Muir Wilderness is the second most-visited wilderness in the United States, and quotas for overnight use have been implemented on virtually all trailheads.

Lakes

Dingleberry Lake Dingleberry Lake is a natural lake in Inyo County, California, in the United States. The lake was so named on account of wikt:dingleberry, dingleberries hanging on the rear of sheep in the area. The Sabrina Lake Trail leads hikers to Dingleberry ...

* Disappointment Lake *

Hell for Sure Lake Hell for Sure Lake is an Alpine lake located in the John Muir Wilderness, which is part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The lake is at an elevation of , has a few small rocky islands and is between Red Mountain to the north and Mount Hutt ...

* Loch Leven * Lake of the Lone Indian *

Mills Lake Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places Uni ...

* Nüümü Hu Hupi *

Pee Wee Lake Pee Wee Lake is a lake in Inyo County, California, in the United States. Pee Wee Lake was named for its small size. See also * List of lakes in California There are more than 3,000 named lakes, reservoirs, and dry lakes in the U.S. state of ...

* Lake Virginia

References

External links

Wilderness.net

TopoQuest map
{{Authority control Wilderness areas of California Protected areas of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Inyo National Forest Sierra National Forest Protected areas of Fresno County, California Protected areas of Inyo County, California Protected areas of Madera County, California Protected areas of Mono County, California Protected areas established in 1964 1964 establishments in California