Not to be confused with the John Muir Trail in California’s Yosemite Park, this Scottish long-distance walk honours the renowned conservationist in his homeland.

John Muir’s birthplace nowadays is a museum and it marks the finale of the Coast to Coast 12-day walking holiday on the recently established long-distance trail of John Muir Way.

When you arrive here, it will have been a 130 mile (215 km) hike across Scotland. Your walking trail would have started in Helensburgh on the west coast of Scotland, the port that John Muir emigrated from to the United States, to then lead you to Linlithgow Palace and Edinburgh all the way to Dunbar on the North Sea coast.

Head into the High Street of Dunbar and you’ll reach a white terraced house that was the birthplace of John Muir. Born here on 21 April 1838, Muir moved to the United States at 11-years-old, and today is best known for his nature conservation work.

The man behind the trail: John Muir, Naturalist and Preservationist

John Muir, the great bushy-bearded man, was born into a strictly religious household. As a child, he developed a deep love for the natural world around his home. He was known to escape from his bedroom window into the Dunbar countryside to enjoy volcanic deposits and dykes, raised beaches, and the glacial-isostatic uplift that has occurred here in Scotland.

Years later and while in the United States, the grown-up John Muir founded the Sierra Club, convinced politicians to create the Yosemite National Park, and raised the cry for conservationism and environmentalism decades before it was fashionable to do so.

The John Muir Way

You may have heard of the famous John Muir Trail in California’s Yosemite Park? Since 21 April 2014 he is also honoured in his native Scotland with the John Muir Way long-distance walk (it replaced a shorter walk under the same name). The trail offers a historical journey across Scotland from the seaside coast of Helensburgh on the River Clyde, then around the southern end of The Highland Fault, undulating through the Scottish Lowlands of farms, canals and former industrial towns to track along the Firth of Forth, threading through Edinburgh and then down the North Sea coast, passing golf courses and bird reserves down into Dunbar.

Walk this way

An enjoyable and varied walk, the John Muir Way walk links together some fine landscapes, countryside and places of historical and natural interest. It is clearly well marked, with routes for walkers and cyclists which converge and diverge at various points.

To find out more about this new walking holiday in Scotland and to download the trip notes, please have a look at the 12 day John Muir Way walking holiday or contact our team of travel experts with your queries.