JOHN MUIR TRAIL

Minimum Impact Wilderness Regulations

The John Muir Trail (JMT) passes through multiple parks and forests. Additional 

regulations may apply for side trips, alternate routes, or stock travel and grazing.

————————————————— General Travel Requirements —————————————————

• Wilderness permits are required for all overnight travel. • Wheeled vehicles or motorized equipment are
prohibited in wilderness.
• A signed permit must be in the permittee’s possession
and must be presented to ranger upon request. • Off-trail group size limit is 8 people in Yosemite 

and 8 or 12 people (location dependent) in Sequoia 

• Group size limit is 15 people or less.
and Kings Canyon.
• To prevent erosion, please walk in the middle of the trail
Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
and do not short-cut trails even if it is muddy or snowy.
• Pets are not allowed.
• Do not build rock cairns or other trail markers.
• Discharge of any firearm or weapon is prohibited.
• No caching food or gear in the wilderness.
Possession of weapons, including bear spray, is
• Pack out all trash, including toilet paper. prohibited. Possession of firearms is subject to 

state regulations.

—————————————————————— Food Storage ——————————————————————

In all wilderness areas along
 Proper Food Storage Methods
the JMT, proper food storage is • Portable food storage container (bear canister) is the recommended
mandatory. Properly store food method of protecting your food. Ensure the lid is closed properly and store
items when not in use to prevent the canister on the ground 50 feet from your sleeping area.
• Permanent Food Storage Box (limited locations) are for on-site use only,
bears and other wildlife from
caching a food resupply, or leaving unwanted items is prohibited.
becoming conditioned to human
Animal Resistant Food Storage Container Required Areas along the JMT:
food. Items that must be secured • All of Yosemite NP wilderness • Kearsarge Lakes/Pass corridor
include all types of food, food 
 • Donahue Pass to Reds Meadow • Whitney Zone (Inyo NF)
related trash, and scented items • Duck Lake to Lake Virginia • Rock Creek/Cottonwood Pass/
such as toiletries, soap, toothpaste, • Dusy Basin/Bishop Pass corridor Cottonwood Lakes
• Pinchot Pass to Forester Pass *Only allowed canisters can be used.
ointments, and lotions.
Counter-balance hanging technique may be used where portable containers
Report any wildlife-related 
 are not mandatory. However, food items must be suspended at least 15 feet
in the air and 10 feet out from the trunk of the tree with no rope hanging
injuries, property damage or down. Where trees are not adequate for hanging food you must use a
unusual encounters to a ranger. portable food storage container.

————————————————— Sanitation & Waste Disposal —————————————————

Please pack out all garbage. Do not burn or bury. Mt. Whitney Area: All visitors are
expected to pack out their solid
• To protect water quality and public health, move well off-trail, away from camp,
human waste between Guitar Lake
and at least 100 feet away from all water sources to urinate.
and Whitney Portal. All used waste
• Solid human waste must be buried in soil 6 to 8 inches deep, at least 100 feet kits must be packed out and
from trails, camps, and all water sources. Pack out all toilet paper and hygiene deposited in the designated
products to preserve the wilderness experience for others. containers next to the restrooms at
• All soap, including biodegradable soap, can injure fish and other aquatic wildlife. Whitney Portal trailhead. Waste kits
Carry wash water 100 feet from lakes, streams, or other water sources before should be picked up with your permit.
washing. Strain dishwater and pack out solid particles, scatter grey water 100 feet Additional waste kits are available at
away from water sources. This includes washing clothes, dishes, and yourself. Crabtree Ranger Station Junction.
—————— Campsite Selection —————— ————— Campfire Regulations —————
In all wilderness areas along the John Muir Trail (JMT) Help to leave no trace of your visit by considering not
campsites must be on durable surfaces such as dirt, having a campfire. If you must, please do the following:
gravel, or rock a minimum of 100 feet (30 meters/40 where fires are allowed, use existing fire rings. Do not
paces) away from water sources and the trail. Do not build new ones or add rocks to existing fire rings. Leave
camp on vegetation or in meadows. Campsites should your ax and saw at home. Use only dead wood found on
not be visible from the trail. Use legal existing sites the ground. Do not chop live vegetation or remove dead
where possible. Do not construct rock walls, trenches, branches from trees.
new fire rings (or add rocks to existing fire rings), bough Fires must be attended at all times. Do not burn trash.
beds, camp furniture, etc. Drown the fire with water, stir the ashes, feel to make
Areas where camping is not allowed or is limited: sure it is cold. Do not use dirt to put out fires.
Yosemite National Park: Note that during times of high fire danger, additional
campfire restrictions may be implemented. Use of a
• No camping on Half Dome.
wood-burning camp stove is not allowed where camp
• No camping within four trail miles of Tuolumne fires are prohibited.
Meadows, Yosemite Valley, or Glacier Point.
Site-specific campfire closures exist outside of the JMT
Ansel Adams Wilderness: corridor. See agencies for more details if planning a detour.
• No camping within a 1⁄4 mile of the outlet of Thousand Yosemite National Park:
Island Lake. • Campfires are prohibited above 9,600 feet in elevation.
• No camping within a 1⁄4 mile of the outlet of Garnet Lake. • Campfires are prohibited in the Cathedral Lakes Basin.
• No camping at Shadow Lake. Ansel Adams Wilderness:
• Campfires are prohibited in all areas above 

• No camping between Shadow Creek and the trail and
10,000 feet in elevation.
the south and east side of Ediza Lake.
Additional areas closed to campfires below 10,000 feet:
John Muir Wilderness:
On the JMT Off the JMT
• No camping within 300 feet of the outlet of Duck Lake. • Rush Forks • Waugh Lake
• No camping within 300 feet of the outlet of Purple Lake. • Thousand Island Lake • Gem Lake (north side)
• Ruby Lake • Lower Davis Lake
• Legal campsites are very limited in the areas near 

Squaw Lake and Pocket Meadow. • Garnet Lake • Clark Lakes
• Shadow Lake 
 • Badger Lakes
• There are no legal campsites on the west side of the JMT/ and Creek • Emerald Lake
PCT for two miles south of the Bear Creek/JMT junction.
• Ediza Lake
• Camping is not recommended in the Blayney Hot 
 • Iceberg Lake
Springs area. • Minaret Lakes
• No camping at Mirror Lake and Trailside Meadow on the John Muir Wilderness:
Mt. Whitney Trail.
• Campfires are prohibited for all areas above 10,000 feet
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: north of the Glacier Divide and above 10,400 feet south
• Hiker cannot exceed 25 consecutive nights in Sequoia of the divide.
and Kings Canyon wilderness area. Additional lower elevation no campfire areas:
• Two night camping limit at Dusy Basin (basin-wide). On the JMT Off the JMT
• Duck Creek • Coldwater Canyon
• Kearsarge Lakes area, no camping within 1⁄4 mile of
• Purple Creek • Blayney Hot Springs area
Bullfrog Lake.
• McGee Canyon • Kearsarge Pass/Onion Valley
• Two night camping limit along JMT between Woods • Pocket Meadow area • N. Fork of Lone Pine Creek
Creek Crossing and Vidette Meadow, EXCEPT one night
• Mt. Whitney Zone • Within 1,000 feet of Anvil
limit per lake between Dollar Lake and Glenn Pass.
Camp on the Shepard Pass Trail
• Two night camping limit at Charlotte and Kearsarge Lakes.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks:
• Mt. Whitney/Crabtree area, no camping at Timberline Lake. • No fires in all areas above 10,000 feet in elevation along
• Two night limit at Crabtree/Whitney Creek and Guitar Lake. the JMT/PCT corridor.