The beautiful and majestic Yosemite National Park is located in eastern central California about 190 miles due east of th ecity on the bay known as San Francisco.
Yosemite is recognized the world over for the overly spectacular. It boasts 1,000 foot waterfalls, sheer granite cliffs, the largest trees in the world known as giant sequoisa, beautiful mountain streams and one of the most famously photographed valleys in the world.
The park itself is huge and consists of 750,000 acres with thousands of lakes and small ponds 800 miles of trails to hike, some 1600 miles of streams to fish in, float through or simply ponder and more than 350 miles of roads taking you to various places in the gargantuan park.
Yosemite Valley is probably the most recognizable area within the national park. Its waterfalls are impressive and tall, its meadows are lush and green with a diversity of wildlife, and its sheer cliffs and unusual rock formations are known the world over by climbers, photographer and tourists alike. You can drive through Yosemite Valley anytime during the year.
John Muir's desire to save subalpine meadows that surrounded the Yosemite Valley area helped create Yosemite National Park and it was established on October 1, 1890 allthough it was initially preserved as the Yosemite Grant by Abraham Lincoln in June of 1864.
Yosemite National Park is known the world over because of the black and white photography of Ansel Adams. His incredible work featuring the landscape of Yosemite Valley has been seen by millions all over the planet thus prompting many to visit the park he helped make famous.
Adams worked and lived in Yosemite with his wife for 40 some years up until the early 1960's.
Come explore the beautiful scenic wonders captured by Adams in Yosemite Valley and enjoy the many diverse activities the park has to offer. One of the more popular activities is hiking Yosemite. The park offers hikers and sightseers more than 800 miles of trails through some of the most beautiful and breathtaking landscape in the world.
Plan your Yosemite vacation and escape today. Here are some maps of the park and surrounding areas to help you get better acquainted with the park.
