John Muir’s Southern Trek, 150 Years

Posted by Jeff on Jan 25, 2017 @ 5:38 pm in Conservation, Hiking News | 0 comments | Last modified: January 25, 2017

As 2017 is the sesquicentennial year for John Muir’s thousand-mile walk across the southeastern U.S. (1867-68), it is likely that many people will be attempting to trace his path.

Chuck Roe, founding manager of the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, founding director of the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, and Southeast U.S. Region program director for the Land Trust Alliance, was inspired to retrace the path of Muir’s long walk, but with a different focus—that being by telling the story of land conservation along the route of Muir’s Southern Trek.

An account of conserved lands and protected natural areas along Muir’s Southern walking route fits nicely with the mission of the organization that Roe now serves as president — Southern Conservation Partners — which is dedicated to enhancing protection, restoration, and greater public awareness of the natural heritage of the southern U.S.

Roe took a different perspective on his adventure. He followed Muir’s route largely by personal vehicle, with periodic short walks along the way. He segmented his examination of the route into sections spread over more than a year.

The intent was to observe and describe the publicly accessible parks, nature preserves, forests and wildlife management areas, and other recreational areas along Muir’s walking route, in homage and testimony to the success story of land conservation in the southeastern U.S.

See the results of Roe’s work here…