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Located in Central California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range, Yosemite National Park encompasses 1,170 square miles of wilderness ranging in altitude from 2,000 feet to more than 13,000 feet above sea level.

Open year round, the park offers skiing, hiking, fishing, rock climbing and horseback riding depending on the season. May and June are the perfect time to visit the park’s many waterfalls.

• Yosemite Falls: North America’s tallest waterfall at 2,425 feet, Yosemite Falls is actually made up of three separate falls: Upper Yosemite Fall, the middle cascades, and Lower Yosemite Fall. One of Yosemite oldest historic trails, the Yosemite Falls Trail was completed in 1877. You can spend the whole day hiking the complete trail or opt for a short walk along the lower fall.
• Bridal Veil Fall: Often the first waterfall seen by visitors entering the park, this water fall was called “Pohono” or “spirit of the puffing wind” by the Ahwahneechee Indians. The wind often blows the falls sideways giving it the appearance of a bride’s veil.
• Vernal Fall: Accessible via the Mist Trail, which climbs close enough to the fall so that hikers must travel through the fall’s mist, Vernal Fall runs all year long but is at its peak in May. By the end of summer it often splits into multiple strands.
• Nevada Fall Located above Vernal Fall in an area known as the giant staircase, you can see it from Glacier point or hike alongside it.

photo credit: CLightPictures

Less than a mile wide and about 3,000 feet deep, Yosemite Valley is known for its incredible rock formations, created from plutonic rock that cooled far below the earth’s surface. Some of the most famous formations are:

• Half Dome: At 8,842 feet it’s among the most recognized natural features in Yosemite, its western face is a sheer cliff of Plutonic granite - the youngest in Yosemite.
• Sentinel Rock: Named for its likeness to a watchtower, it sits like a sentry on the south side of the valley.
• El Capitan: Rock climbers from around the world come to challenge their abilities on El Capitan’s granite face.
• Mt. Lyell: The tallest peak in the park, Mt. Lyell is home to the largest active glacier in Yosemite.
• Glacier Point: Famous for its view of the valley floor.

There are many other sites worth seeing, including:

photo credit: Mel B.

Giant Sequoias
The Mariposa Grove is the largest stand of giant sequoias in Yosemite. You can take a tram tour through Mariposa Grove from May until October. In the Mariposa Grove is the California Tunnel Tree, a still-standing walk-through tree near the Grizzly Giant. The hole was originally cut for horses and carriages to pass through. There are two smaller groves, the Tuolumne and Merced groves near Crane Flat, a meadown about 16 miles from Yosemite Valley.

Tioga Road and Tuolumne Meadows
The Tioga Road through the park is a 39-mile drive from Crane Flat, past Olmsted Point and Tenaya Lake, through Tuolumne Meadows, and on to Tioga Pass, which is the highest automobile pass in California at 9945 feet above sea level. The road was built in 1883 as a mining road and was upgraded in 1961. The Tioga Road is generally open to vehicles from late May or early June through sometime in November. Tuolumne Meadows is a large, open sub-alpine meadow filled with wildflowers in summer and surrounded by mountains.

photo credit: sanbeiji

Wawona
Wawona is the home to the historic Wawona Hotel, dating from the late 19th Century. The Pioneer Yosemite History Center, a collection of historic buildings, is located just over the covered bridge from the hotel. Wawona is accessible by car year-round.

Yosemite was the first area to achieve protected status from the federal government. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant in 1864, which signed over the Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley over to the state of California. But conservationist John Muir visited the area in 1868 and found it overrun by dometic sheep, “hoofed locusts” that were eating the wildflowers in Tuolumne Meadows and generally wreaking havoc. By 1890, thanks to the efforts of Muir and Century magazine editor Robert Underwood Johnson, 1,500 square miles of reserved forest lands were set aside. In 1903, under President Theodore Roosevelt, the area became a designated national park.

Accommodations at Yosemite range from the luxurious to the spartan. The Ahwahnee Hotel is at the high end of the spectrum. Completed in 1927, the Ahwahnee is known for its granite facade, beamed ceilings and massive stone hearths. Presidents have stayed at the Ahwahnee as have numerous celebrities including Humphrey Bogart, Shirley Temple, Boris Karloff, Judy Garland, Clint Eastwood, Charlie Chaplin, Bing Crosby, Mel Gibson, Greta Garbo, Jack Benny and Charlton Heston are some of the others who have signed the hotel’s register.

The Wawona Hotel offers rooms with and without baths in a Victorian complex near the park’s south entrance.

There are 13 campgrounds located within Yosemite as well. some of which require advance reservations. Ten of those campgrounds can accommodate RVs or trailers.

(Photo via flickr cc)

Tags: California | north American | Sierra Nevada | United States | Yosemite National Park