On the bank of Alhambra Creek sits a small family cemetery with the gravesites of environmental icon John Muir, his wife Louisa Wanda Strentzel, their daughter Wanda and her husband Thomas Hanna, and various members of the Strentzel family. The cemetery is at the edge of an historic pear orchard planted by his father in-law Johann Strentzel amid a lush surrounds of mixed evergreen forest. Having tended to the orchard himself before his 1914 funeral was held under its spreading branches, John Muir described a now massive Eucalyptus tree at the western edge as a guardian angel watching over the graves.

Conservation of the orchard’s legacy, preservation of the heritage tree surrounds, and maintaining access to the gravesite is the ongoing work of the National Park Service as a part of the John Muir National Historic Site. Located within a now-residential neighborhood, entry to the gravesite is by appointment.  JNRA designed a new entry gate and fence, accessible parking, an accessible pathway and small gathering area, and interpretive signage for the gravesite.