John Muir Memorial Shelter

John Muir Memorial Shelter is a compact octagonal granite hut at 11,955 feet on Muir Pass, along the John Muir and Pacific Crest trails. Getting here means a high-elevation backcountry hike on foot; it isn’t a quick detour from a road. Overnight wilderness trips in Sequoia and Kings Canyon require a permit, with the entry point depending on your route. The shelter was built as a memorial and emergency refuge, not as lodging you can reserve.

The single chamber measures about 16 by 16 feet, but its corbelled stone ceiling rises 16 feet. Built-in stone benches line the walls, and a stone fireplace sits inside. Outside, the octagonal granite walls and steep roof give the hut a beehive shape against the bare pass.

Sierra Club leader William E. Colby came up with the idea after reading about the stone trulli of southern Italy in 1930. Berkeley architect Henry Gutterson turned it into a granite design, and Sierra Club members began stacking stones that summer. The memorial was dedicated on July 30, 1933; a bronze plaque at the entrance names John Muir and donor George Frederick Schwarz. The shelter was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

The hut sits above treeline in a stark field of rock. Wanda Lake is to the west and Helen Lake to the northeast. For a photo, include the hut’s pointed roof with some of the open granite around it; that setting is part of what makes this small building memorable.