Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park offers world-class recreation — marveling at and photographing Yosemite Valley’s cliffs and waterfalls (El Capitan, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Fall), hiking the valley and high-country trails (the Mist Trail to Vernal and Nevada Falls, the cables route up Half Dome by permit, the high Sierra and Tuolumne Meadows), standing among the giant sequoias of the Mariposa Grove, rock climbing the legendary granite walls, backpacking the wilderness, scenic driving (Tioga Road, Glacier Point), and winter skiing. The combination of granite grandeur, waterfalls, sequoias and high country makes Yosemite a premier and unforgettable destination.

Late spring is spectacular for the waterfalls, which roar with snowmelt (peaking around May), while summer brings access to the high country and Tioga Road (open roughly late May/June to fall), fall offers golden color and quieter trails, and winter brings snow, the firefall phenomenon at Horsetail Fall (February), and skiing (with Tioga and Glacier Point roads closed). A reservation may be required to enter in the busy season. Spring for the falls, summer for the high country, and fall for color are highlights; reserve ahead, use the valley shuttle, and start early to beat crowds.

Yosemite Valley was home to the Ahwahneechee (Southern Sierra Miwuk) people for thousands of years before its ‘discovery’ by outsiders in the mid-1800s. Its beauty inspired early protection: in 1864, President Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant, an unprecedented act setting the valley aside for preservation, and the naturalist John Muir championed its protection, helping establish the national park in 1890. Yosemite became central to the national park idea and to American conservation, and the photographs of Ansel Adams made it an icon. The park preserves the valley, the high country and the giant sequoias, a treasured and historic landscape.

Yosemite’s landscape is a masterpiece of granite and glaciers. The Sierra Nevada’s granite, formed deep underground as molten rock cooled, was uplifted and then sculpted by Ice Age glaciers that carved Yosemite Valley into its distinctive U-shape, plucking and polishing the rock to create the sheer cliffs of El Capitan, the great dome of Half Dome (a glacially carved and exfoliated dome), and the hanging valleys from which the high waterfalls plunge. Exfoliation (the peeling of granite sheets) shaped the domes. The uplifted granite and the glacial carving created Yosemite’s incomparable cliffs, domes, valleys and waterfalls.

Yosemite’s range of habitats hosts black bears (famous in the park, requiring careful food storage), mule deer, coyotes, bobcats, the rare Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep in the high country, and a rich community of birds, including the peregrine falcon, Steller’s jay and the great gray owl, while the high country shelters marmots and pikas. The range from valley to alpine creates diverse habitat. Yosemite is a fine place for wildlife watching and birding, with the black bears (store food properly), the high-country wildlife and the cliff-nesting raptors among the highlights of this magnificent landscape.

Yosemite National Park protects a remarkable range of Sierra Nevada ecosystems across its great elevation gradient — from the oak woodlands and meadows of the foothills and valley, through montane and subalpine forests (including the ancient giant sequoias, among the largest living things on Earth), to the alpine meadows and granite of the high country near the Sierra crest. This range supports exceptional biodiversity, including rare and endemic species. The giant sequoias depend on fire to reproduce. Protecting the forests, the sequoias, the meadows, the rivers and the high country sustains a globally significant Sierra Nevada ecosystem.

Yosemite National Park holds a treasured and almost sacred place in American culture as a crown jewel of the national park system and a birthplace of the conservation movement, its incomparable valley inspiring the Yosemite Grant, John Muir’s advocacy, Ansel Adams’s photographs, and the awe of millions. The ancestral homeland of the Ahwahneechee people and a landscape that helped shape the very idea of preserving wild places, Yosemite embodies the grandeur of the American wilderness. It is a cherished icon of America and one of the most beautiful and meaningful landscapes on Earth.

Yosemite National Park is in California’s Sierra Nevada, reached via State Routes 140, 120 and 41 from the Central Valley and the east (Tioga Road/State Route 120 over the Sierra, open seasonally), about four hours from San Francisco. An entrance fee applies, and a reservation may be required to enter in the busy season — check in advance. The park offers Yosemite Valley (with lodging, campgrounds, a shuttle and visitor center), Glacier Point, the Mariposa Grove, Tuolumne Meadows and the high country (seasonal). Check the National Park Service for reservations, road status and conditions before visiting.

The National Park Service protects Yosemite Valley, the granite cliffs, the waterfalls, the giant sequoias, the high country and the wildlife of Yosemite National Park. Visitors help by storing food in bear-proof lockers (essential bear-country practice), staying on trails (protecting the fragile meadows and high country), using the shuttle, protecting the rivers’ water quality, respecting wildlife (never feeding animals), packing out everything, following permits (Half Dome, wilderness) and Leave No Trace. Protecting the valley, the sequoias, the high country and the wildlife sustains this globally significant and treasured Sierra Nevada ecosystem.

Yosemite’s grandeur carries real hazards — the rivers and waterfalls are deadly (powerful, cold currents have swept people over falls; stay back from the edges of rivers, falls and cliffs and heed barriers), and the Half Dome cables and high routes are strenuous and dangerous (permit required; never attempt in storms, when lightning and slick granite kill). This is bear country — store all food in lockers. The high country brings altitude and fast-changing weather; carry layers and water. Watch footing on wet granite and steep trails, supervise children near water and edges, and respect the falls, the cliffs and the bears.

An entrance fee applies; a reservation may be required to enter in the busy season. Store all food in bear-proof lockers; never feed wildlife. Half Dome and wilderness backpacking require permits. Stay on trails; protect meadows and the high country. Camp only in designated areas. Pets are restricted (not allowed on most trails). Drones are prohibited. Collecting is prohibited. Pack out all trash. Tioga and Glacier Point roads are seasonal. Check the National Park Service for reservations, permits, road status and current rules before visiting.

The gateway towns of Mariposa, Oakhurst, Groveland and Lee Vining (at the east entrance near Mono Lake) lie around the park, with the Sierra National Forest, the eastern Sierra and Mono Lake, the giant sequoias of the region, and the high country in the broader area, and San Francisco about four hours west. The Sierra Nevada defines the region. Yosemite anchors the premier wilderness icon of California and one of the great national parks, a centerpiece of a Sierra Nevada adventure and a defining destination of the American West.

Marvel at Yosemite Valley’s cliffs and waterfalls (El Capitan, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls) — coming in late spring for the falls at their thundering peak — and hike the Mist Trail to Vernal and Nevada Falls or, with a permit and in good weather, the cables up Half Dome. Stand among the giant sequoias of the Mariposa Grove, drive to Glacier Point and (in summer) the high country of Tioga Road and Tuolumne Meadows. Reserve entry and lodging ahead, store all food from bears, use the valley shuttle, keep back from the deadly rivers and falls, and start early.