California Parks
Yosemite National Park, California
At a re-opening celebration of the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias several years ago Park Superintendent Michael Reynolds proclaimed: "These trees sowed the seeds of the National Park idea." The Yosemite Grant Act of 1864, which preserved the Grove and Yosemite Valley, was "inspired by advocates concerned with early signs of loggers cutting down some of the big trees, settlers homesteading and other potential changes that could destroy or privatize the beautiful area.
Established in 1864 as a state park, Yosemite was the first state park in California. Yosemite's protection predates the first national park by 18 years. By 1890, Yosemite was designated as the third national park in the nation.
Yosemite National Park covers nearly 1,200 square miles in the Sierra Nevada, with elevations ranging from about 2,000 feet to 13,000 feet.
Yosemite receives 95% of its precipitation between October and May. Most of Yosemite is blanketed in snow from about November through May. (Yosemite Valley can be rainy or snowy in any given winter storm.)
You
can drive to Yosemite year-round and enter via Highways 41, 140, and 120
from the west. Tioga Pass Entrance (via Highway 120 from the east) is
closed from approximately November through late May or June. Hetch
Hetchy is open all year but may close intermittently due to snow. four
key highlights of the park including the High Sierra, granite cliffs,
sequoia groves and Yosemite Valley.Yosemite National Park, located in
California, is part of the National Park Service, within the Department
of the Interior. The park is about 750,000 acres and is situated about
60 miles north of Fresno and about 170 miles east of San Francisco in
the Sierra Nevada mountain range. About 95 percent of the park is
designated wilderness. The park protects a broad range of life zones of
the Sierra Nevada from the Lower Montane Forest up to the Alpine Zone.
Each year, over five million visitors come to enjoy the unique
experiences that can only be had at Yosemite. We invite you to explore
the park's giant sequoias, stunning valleys, granite peaks and domes,
high meadows and lakes and spectacular mountain views. Feel the spongy
bark of the most massive trees in the world, the giant sequoias. Take a
hike and smell the sweet scent of the pines. Listen to the drumming of
the woodpeckers drilling holes in the oak trees. Feel the chilly mist of
North America's tallest waterfall land on your upturned face.
More Yosemite
Visiting Yosemite is a challenge worth the effort
Images of America: Yosemite Valley, book
Christmas Dinners are annual tradition in Yosemite National Park
Ahwahnee Chef's Holiday
California's parks may be confusing to understand, but well worth exploring
Yosemite is in the Central part of the Sierra Nevada mountains
Sierra Nevada mountains towns, counties and regions