These 78 journals were written by John Muir, usually in the field, between 1867 and 1913 and offer a unique perspective on Muir's life and experiences in his own words and drawings.
Muir also kept 25 notebooks that are available here. Like the journals, the notebooks are unique writings of Muir and sometime contain field notes. Generally they are drafts of ideas, books, and articles.
Most of the digitized John Muir journals are transcribed. Join our Muir Journal Transcription Project to help.
The unpublished works of John Muir are under copyright by the Muir-Hanna Trust. To purchase copies and/or obtain permission to publish or exhibit items from the John Muir Papers, visit our fees and forms page.
Browse the John Muir Journals (1867-1913) Collections:
- July 1867-February 1868 [Journal 01]: The “thousand mile walk” from Kentucky to Florida and Cuba
- March 1868 [Journal 02]: Crossing the Panama Isthmus
- January-May 1869 [Journal 03]: Twenty Hill Hollow
- November 1869-circa August 1870 [Journal 04]: Yosemite Year Book
- August-October 1872 [Journal 05]: Yosemite Creek, etc.
- August-September 1872 [Journal 06]: Illilouette Basin Trip
- September-October 1872 [Journal 07]: Tuolumne
- December 1872-1873 [Journal 08]: Wind Storm, Pine Trees, Feeding, etc.
- January-May 1873 [Journal 9]: Yosemite Fall, Ice Cone, etc.
- May-June 1873 [Journal 10]: Yosemite Falls, Rainbows, Avalanches
- May-July 1873 [Journal 11]: Indian Canon, North Dome, Big Tuolumne Canon
- June 1873 [Journal 12]: Mt. Lyell Studies, Glacier Canon Erosion
- July-August 1873 [Journal 13]: “Alps” and Little Yosemite
- September-November 1873 [Journal 14]: Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Mono Trip
- Summer circa 1874 [Journal 15]: Torreya, Merced Canon
- October-November 1874 [Journal 16]: First Trip to Mount Shasta
- October-December 1874 [Journal 17]: Shasta, Yosemite, Dead Rivers
- October 1874-circa July 1875 [Journal 18]: Redwood, Yosemite, Shasta, Kings River, etc.
- April 1875 [Journal 19]: Glaciers, Dead Rivers, Sketches, Shasta Storms
- June-September 1875 [Journal 20]: Owens Valley, Yosemite, Middle Fork San Joaquin
- August-November 1875 [Journal 21]: Sequoia Studies from Yosemite South End of Belt at White River
- May-August 1876 [Journal 22]: South Dome, Ridge, etc.
- May-July 1877 [Journal 23]: Travels in Utah, etc.
- August-September 1877 [Journal 24]: Cinder Cone Sketches, etc.
- September-November 1877 [Journal 25]: Trip with Hooker, Gray, Bidwells, etc.
- June-August 1878 [Journal 26]: Geodetic Survey from Sacramento to Wasatch Mountains, Utah
- September-October 1878 ["1876" sic] [Journal 27]: Notes of Travel on the East Side of Sierra
- June-September 1879 [Journal 28]: Expedition to Alaska
- July-August 1879 [Journal 29]: Alaska Trip
- August 1879 [Journal 30]: From Wrangell Up Stickeen, Second Trip to Cassiar Mines
- October-December 1879 [Journal 31]: First Alaska Trip with S. Hall Young
- August 1880 [Journal 32]: From Wrangell Up Coast, Sum Dum, Takou, etc.
- August-September 1880 [Journal 33]: Second Expedition of 1880
- May 1881 [Journal 34]: Cruise of the Corwin, Part I
- May-September 1881 [Journal 35]: Cruise of the Corwin Sketches and Notes
- June-October 1881 [Journal 36]: Cruise of the Corwin, Part II
- August 1885 [Journal 37]: Yellowstone Park, Columbia Park, etc.
- June-September 1888 [Journal 38]: Trip with Parry to Lake Tahoe
- August 1888 [Journal 39]: Excursion to Rainier and Notes of Puget Sound
- June 1889 [Journal 40]: Yosemite Trip (Journal Fragment)
- June-July 1890; June-August 1893 [Journal 41]: Trip to Alaska; Trip to Norway
- June-July 1890 [Journal 42]: Sketches of Glaciers Made Around Muir Glacier, Alaska
- July 1890 [Journal 43]: Alaskan Sled Trip
- July 1890 [Journal 44]: Glacier Sled Trip Sketches and Notes
- July 1890 [Journal 45]: Alaskan Sled Trip (Journal Fragments)
- August 1890 [Journal 46]: From Front of Glacier to Point of Tree Mountains
- May-June 1891 [Journal 47]: Trip to Kings River
- August 1893 [Journal 48]: Trip to Europe
- January-July 1895 [Journal 49]: Ranch Life (Martinez, California)
- July-September 1895; Summer 1900 [Journal 50]: Trip Down Tuolumne Canyon; Trip from Tahoe to Yosemite
- January-May 1896 [Journal 51]: Ranch Life (Martinez, California)
- June-July 1896 [Journal 52]: Travels with the Forest Commission
- August 1896 [Journal 53]: From San Francisco to Alaska and Return, the Osborn Trip
- August-September 1896 [Journal 54]: Forest Field Studies
- Circa 1896 [Journal 55]: Washington Notes and Sketches, and a Few of California Sierra (Journal Fragments)
- July-November 1897 [Journal 56]: Botany Trip with Sargent and Canby
- August-September 1897 [Journal 57]: Trip with Sargent and Canby to Alaska
- May-June 1899 [Journal 58]: Harriman Expedition to Alaska, Part I, San Franciscio to Harriman Fjord
- June-July 1899 [Journal 59]: Harriman Expedition to Alaska, Part II
- July-August 1899 [Journal 60]: Harriman Expedition to Alaska, Part III
- June-July 1901 [Journal 61]: Trips to Boulder Creek and Giant Forest
- July-August 1901 [Journal 62]: Tuolumne Meadows Trip with Sierra Club
- January 1902 [Journal 63]: Arizona Trip
- July-August 1902 [Journal 64]: Kern River, etc.
- June-July 1903 [Journal 65]: World Tour, Part I
- July-August 1903 [Journal 66]: World Tour, Part II
- August-November 1903 [Journal 67]: World Tour, Part III
- November 1903-January 1904 [Journal 68]: World Tour, Part IV
- January-May 1904 [Journal 69]: World Tour, Part V
- July-September 1905, February 1906 [Journal 70]: Tree Notes on Petrified Forest
- July-October 1906 [Journal 71]: Tree Studies
- June-July 1907; June-July 1908 [Journal 72]: Yosemite Trip with Sierra Club; Sequoia Trip with Sierra Club
- February-April 1909 [Journal 73]: Arizona Trip
- July 1909 [Journal 74]: Sierra Club Outing to Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy
- August-October 1911 [Journal 75]: Trip to South America, Part I
- October-November 1911 [Journal 76]: Trip to South America, Part II
- November 1911-March 1912 [Journal 77]: Trip to South America, Part III and Trip to Africa
- August 1913 [Journal 78]: Island Park, Idaho Trip