“My fire was in all its glory about midnight…I had nothing to do but look and listen and join the trees in their hymns and prayers.”
– John Muir, Travels in Alaska
Join the National Park Service for a free campfire program on Saturday, May 18, 2019 at John Muir National Historic Site (NHS) in Martinez, California. The program begins at 6 PM and lasts roughly 2 hours. This special campfire program will be hosted by rangers from the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. Step back into early California, when the Martinez Adobe was the heart of Rancho Pinole. The musical group Los Arribeños de San Francisco, led by Lance Beeson – a descendant of the Anza Expedition’s Second in Command Jose Joaquin Moraga – will share the songs, dances and games of the Spanish and Mexican eras of Alta California.
No reservations are required. Meet at the front gate of John Muir National Historic Site, 4202 Alhambra Avenue, in Martinez, California (at the Alhambra Ave. exit off Highway 4). Bring the whole family! There will be something for everyone. Come with picnic blankets, lawn chairs, marshmallows and a desire to have a good time. Rangers will direct you from the gate to the fire ring. If it is a “Spare the Air Day” the program will continue but there will be no fire.
Created in 1964, John Muir NHS preserves the home, landscapes, and gravesite of conservationist and national park advocate John Muir. Muir spent his entire life exploring, studying, and writing about his experiences in the American wilderness, most notably the Sierra Nevada Mountains. His writing set the stage for a conservation movement that would spur the protection of nature worldwide and ultimately earn Muir the title “Father of the National Parks”.
John Muir NHS, located at 4202 Alhambra Avenue, Martinez, California 94553, is open seven days a week from 10 AM to 5 PM. Admission to the site is free of charge. For more information, please visit the park website at www.nps.gov/jomu or call (925) 228-8860.
