John Muir Trail Maps

JMT detail map
Client:   John Muir Trail Foundation

The John Muir Trail Foundation was formed in 2018 to the conserve the John Muir Trail (est. 1915) for people to enjoy for the centuries to come by caring for the wilderness, wildlife and waters along its path in the high Sierra Nevada of California. The foundation came to GreenInfo for help creating definitive poster and detail maps of the entire 220-mile-long trail. Along with a large-scale poster, we created a set of seven detail maps, with highly refined cartography and prominent use of the foundation's branding. These maps are detailed enough for planning purposes and beautiful enough for visual communications, a balance we strive for in much of our cartographic work.

The Foundation needed maps that could compare the present-day John Muir Trail with the trail's historic alignment, as well as guide discussions around trail restoration and overuse impacts with managing agencies. Using a combination of existing GIS data, raw data points taken along the trail with a GPS unit, and the Foundation's own research, GreenInfo developed a comprehensive, high-resoultion GIS layer of the present-day and historic trails and surrounding access trails. 

The result was a set of extremely accurate trail maps, including a series of 7 24"x27" detail maps, a special 24"x27" inset map of Yosemite Valley, and a 20"x36" poster of the entire trail to guide general discussions. Producing a variety of maps at different scales ensured that the Foundation could use their maps to talk about the trail at any level of detail, from the smallest issues to broad, general ideas spanning multiple jurisdictions.

Focus:   Recreation  

Services:  GIS Services, Data, Maps, Cartography 

Tags:   California, Esri ArcGIS, Sierra Nevada, trails  

Project Years: 2018

GreenInfo Network creates, analyzes, visualizes and communicates information in the public interest. We specialize in mapping and related technology for nonprofits and public agencies, focusing on using it for conservation, social equity, public health, environment and foundation grant making.
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