Sightseeing at Yosemite National Park
Two of the seminal figures of the modern conservation movement -- John Muir and Ansel Adams -- both called the spectacular Yosemite National Park region home. Describing Yosemite, naturalist John Muir wrote that it was "as if into this one mountain mansion Nature had gathered her choicest treasures."
Landscape photographer Ansel Adams heartily agreed. He owned and operated a photographic gallery on the valley floor for many decades in the early 20th century. The fact that these two icons of conservation chose Yosemite as a base of operations for their wilderness activities says a lot about the singular scenery of the area.
Located in the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which Muir called "The Range of Light" because it is cloudless so many days of the year, Yosemite includes one of the greatest concentrations of natural features on the continent, if not on the planet.
©2006 National Park Services
The shape of the famous Half Dome is the result of exfoliation,
a process by which rock sheds its outer layers along fault lines.
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There are such fabled sites as Yosemite Falls, which plunges 2,500 feet to the floor of Yosemite Valley (equal to 13 Niagaras in height), Bridalveil Falls (620 feet), and Ribbon Falls (1,612 feet). Here, too, are the Mariposa and Merced giant sequoia groves, where the largest tree is nearly 30 feet in diameter, and the quiet splendor of the Tuolumne and Merced rivers.
Half Dome is known to mountain climbers around the world and is one of the most striking sites in the park, rising in a massive, hulking shape like a medieval monk's hooded head. Nearby El Capitan, whose name means "the chief" in Spanish, is the largest piece of granite in North America and stands like a solid, broad-shouldered guard at the entrance to the valley.
Across the valley from El Capitan are the fabulous Cathedral Rocks, the outcroppings of which soar upward like skyscrapers from the quiet oak groves. In the far north of the park is the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River, a steep and narrow barranca whose walls were carved by glaciers in ages past. Toward the south is majestic Mount Lyell, the highest point in the park at 13,114 feet.
Yosemite offers hikers more than 700 miles of trails. Short trips can be taken to Sentinel Dome, Glacier Point, and Vernal Falls. The Pacific Crest Trail traverses the highest regions of the park. On these trails hikers can walk through the same forests and meadows as John Muir, and they can share in his wonder at the magnificent splendor of this awe-inspiring park.
The park is also known for its fall colors when the oak and aspen turn and for the beauty of the dogwood blossoms in the spring. Yosemite boasts of an abundance of wildlife, which ranges from the black bears that backcountry trekkers sometimes see eating berries in the fall to the black-tailed deer of the inner valley.
A person could spend a lifetime in Yosemite and never run out of places to explore -- that is the mark of any crown jewel national park.
Yosemite National Park Photo Opportunities
Be sure to bring your camera along on this trip. Some of the must-click shots include:
- El Capitan: Rising almost 3,000 feet above the valley floor, El Capitan is the largest monolith of granite in the world. It is best seen at the far west end of Yosemite Valley at Bridalveil and El Capitan Meadows.
- Half Dome: Perhaps the most recognized symbol of Yosemite, Half Dome rises more than 4,000 feet above the valley floor. It can be seen throughout eastern Yosemite Valley and Glacier Point.
- Mariposa Grove: This is one of the finest remaining group of giant sequoias. In order to protect this grove, it can only be seen by foot or by tram.
- Yosemite Falls: One of the world's tallest, Yosemite Falls is actually made up of three separate falls: Upper Yosemite Fall (1,430 feet), the middle cascades (675 feet), and Lower Yosemite Fall (320 feet).
In the next section, we'll shift our focus to the history of Yosemite National Park, including interesting facts about the formation of El Capitan.
