The chances are good that if you were heading from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park hoping to take a Yosemite tour and take in the sightseeing attractions there, you would go due east and that would put you through the town of Modesto. From there you would pick up Highway 132 and drive until you drove into the west side of Yosemite. And essentially that is the route that the famed environmentalist and conservationist, John Muir took on his many journeys to the place he loved so dearly and championed for so thoroughly, dedicating much of his life toward advocacy for Yosemite Valley.
Now a small, but high profile gesture could honor John Muir the man and his efforts over his lifetime by renaming the route the highway between Modesto and Yosemite. The route that he would walk between San Francisco and Yosemite is well documented in John Muir’s journals and the section of his trek between Modesto to the west side entrance to Yosemite National Park eventually grew into Highway 132.
Modesto city officials, along with those of Don Pedro, are now mounting a referendum that will ultimately be proposed to the State of California to officially rename the highway in John Muir’s honor. Not only would it help to preserve his legacy, and honor the man and his influence, but it is hoped that the name change would go beyond that to shine an ecological light on the surrounding area and those traveling on it, as well as have a positive economic impact on the local communities that it touches. So the next time that you take the same route that John Muir took from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park to take a Yosemite tour, you’ll know that you’re also taking the John Muir tour to get there.
