Yosemite National Park travel guide

Yosemite National Park

tel: 209-372-0200

www.nps.gov/yose

To its original inhabitants, the indigenous Ahwahneechee, Yosemite ("yo-seh-mih-tee") Valley was a holy place. Because of its isolation, the tribe managed to keep its mountain paradise a secret from outsiders until 1851, a full year after California attained statehood, when the US Cavalry arrived and herded the tribe members across the Sierras to a barren reservation near Mono Lake. Today, 94 percent of the park is designated wilderness.

Although Yosemite Valley comprises only 8 sq miles (21 sq km) of the park's 1,169-sq-mile (3,027-sq-km) area, it plays host to more than 90 percent of all Yosemite's overnight visitors. From here, many well-know sites can be seen, including Half Dome and Rainbow Falls. Nowhere else in the world are there so many big waterfalls in such a small area, including 2,425ft (739-meter) Yosemite Falls, the highest in North America. When Ice Age glaciers scoured out Yosemite Valley, they left behind several smaller hanging valleys on either side of the main feature, high conduits for free-leaping torrents. Visitors should note, however, that falls are often dry out of season, from late July through fall.

As the prehistoric ice melted and retreated, it exposed the colossal building blocks of the Sierra Nevada - El Capitan, Cathedral Rock, Three Brothers, Royal Arches, Clouds Rest. In the daredevil world of technical rock climbing, El Capitan is a major challenge.

Roads in the east end of the valley near Mirror Lake have been restricted to shuttle buses, bicycles, and pedestrians. You can arrange to take a guided horseback trip at the valley stables near Yosemite Village, where bicycles may be rented. 

To the south is Glacier Point. From this famed viewpoint above the floor of Yosemite Valley, the entire park comes into unforgettable focus. Close at hand are the granite steps of the Giant's Staircase, where the Vernal and Nevada falls drop the raging waters of the Merced River. From Glacier Point, Half Dome is the most prominent landmark, a great solitary stone thumb thrusting skyward.

Five miles (8km) south of Wawona, a short side road leads to the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias, a preserve containing more than 500 mammoth redwood trees. The largest tree, the Grizzly Giant, 200ft (60 meters) high, is at least 3,800 years old. The best way to experience the trees is on foot, wandering among living things that were already giants when Christ walked the Holy Land.

Reached by an hour's drive north from Yosemite Valley on the scenic road to the Tioga Pass, Tuolumne Meadows is the gateway to an alpine wilderness. The only way to see the more remote areas of the backcountry is to hike or, on some of the smoother trails, arrange a horse-packing trip.