The gross heathenism of civilization has generally destroyed nature, and poetry, and all that is spiritual.

Other places named in his honor are Muir Woods National Monument Muir Beach John Muir College Mount Muir Camp Muir and Muir Glacier. "Muir has profoundly shaped the very categories through which Americans understand and envision their relationships with the natural world" writes Holmes. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas.