Overview
The John Muir Trust exists to protect and conserve wild places for current and future generations. It takes its name and inspiration from John Muir, the Dunbar-born naturalist whose campaigning helped create America's national parks.
The Trust works in three ways: it owns and manages some of the UK's finest wild land, it campaigns for stronger protection of wild places, and it inspires people to value wildness through the John Muir Award. While it describes its work as wild land conservation, its restoration approach increasingly mirrors rewilding: reducing grazing pressure, restoring peatland and letting native woodland and montane scrub return.
Wild Land in Its Care
The Trust's properties read like a greatest hits of British wild land, and it stewards over 25,000 hectares in total. In Scotland it cares for the Ben Nevis estate, the remote Sandwood in Sutherland, East Schiehallion in Perthshire, Quinag and Kylesku in Assynt, Li and Coire Dhorrcail on the Knoydart peninsula, land on Skye, and Glenlude in the Scottish Borders. In England it works at Thirlmere in the Lake District, alongside United Utilities, Natural England and Cumbria Wildlife Trust, and at Charterhouse Heritage Park in Coventry. It managed Glenridding Common, including the summit of Helvellyn, until October 2023, when it chose not to tender for a new long-term lease.
Across these sites the focus is on letting natural processes recover: expanding native woodland, restoring damaged peatland, monitoring wildlife and managing visitor pressure so that wild character is retained.
Ben Nevis & Restoration
The Trust has cared for Ben Nevis since 2000 and marked 25 years on the mountain in June 2025. The 1,761-hectare estate includes the summits of Ben Nevis, Carn Mor Dearg and Aonach Beag, plus the dramatic Steall gorge, and sees more than 160,000 people climb to the summit each year.
Restoration on Nevis focuses on bringing back the mountain's missing habitats, from river valley woodland to rare montane scrub near the summits, alongside path repair and visitor management on Britain's busiest mountain.
The John Muir Award
Running since 1997, the John Muir Award is an environmental award open to everyone. Participants discover a wild place, explore it, do something to conserve it and share their experience. It is widely used by schools, outdoor centres and community groups, and more than half a million people have achieved it. The Award was redesigned and relaunched in March 2025, with the first level now called Wild Places Guardian and two further levels still to come.
How to Support
Membership is the backbone of the Trust's funding and comes with two issues a year of the John Muir Trust Journal, plus volunteering opportunities on its properties, from path maintenance to habitat monitoring.
Visit johnmuirtrust.org to become a member, volunteer on wild land or take part in the John Muir Award.
Further Resources
Watch
The John Muir Trust: Our Wild Places
The Trust's introduction to the wild land it cares for and why it matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the John Muir Trust?
The John Muir Trust is a conservation charity dedicated to protecting and restoring wild places across the UK. Named after the Scottish-born founder of America's national parks, it owns and cares for some of Britain's finest wild land, including Ben Nevis, Sandwood, East Schiehallion and part of the Knoydart peninsula.
What land does the John Muir Trust care for?
The Trust cares for a number of properties, mostly in Scotland. These include the Ben Nevis estate (1,761 hectares including three Munro summits), Sandwood in Sutherland, East Schiehallion in Perthshire, Quinag and Kylesku in Assynt, Li and Coire Dhorrcail on Knoydart, land on Skye, and Glenlude in the Scottish Borders. In England it works at Thirlmere in the Lake District and at Charterhouse Heritage Park in Coventry, both through partnerships rather than ownership.
Is the John Muir Trust a rewilding organisation?
The Trust's focus is protecting and restoring wild places, which increasingly aligns with rewilding. On its own land it works to restore natural processes, including montane scrub and woodland recovery on Ben Nevis, peatland restoration and reducing grazing pressure so native habitats can regenerate.
What is the John Muir Award?
The John Muir Award is the Trust's environmental award scheme, run since 1997. It encourages people of all ages to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places, and more than half a million people have achieved it through schools, community groups and outdoor centres. The Award was redesigned and relaunched in March 2025, with the first level now called Wild Places Guardian and two further levels to follow.
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