Sep 26, 2010
Yosemite National Park in California, USA was one of the USA’s first protected natural areas and an early US National Park.
The area of over 1000 square miles, mostly wilderness, is recognized around the globe as one of the world’s most beautiful and sublime mountain landscapes.
Bridalveil Falls and Yosemite Falls tumble thousands of feet over sheer granite cliffs into the valley below, joining the quiet Merced River as it winds through forest and meadow.
El Capitan’s 3000 foot sheer cliff and Half Dome are two of the most striking granite features in the world.
Yosemite is the most famous of California’s five National Parks and stands with Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming as one of the USA’s most famous national parks, known worldwide for both its natural beauty and for the role it played in fostering the works of John Muir and the parks and environmental protection movements.
Yosemite was home to Scottish born naturalist John Muir and was the source of much of Muir’s inspiration as his writings led to profound changes in the way Americans viewed the wilderness. Yosemite park is a critical key to an understanding of the Sierra Club, one of America’s most influential voices for the preservation of wilderness. Today, Yosemite remains one of America’s finest unspoiled natural landscapes and will always rank as one of the greatest of all the world’s natural treasures.
Hike to Half Dome
Hike to Clouds Rest
More Yosemite Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=yosemite&w=all&s=int
National Park Service Website: http://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm
Aug 25, 2010
Just back from Yosemite National Park in California I’m even more convinced that the UNESCO World Heritage Site list is a great way to guarantee you find fantastic places as you visit countries around the world. Obviously no small list can be completely fair or inclusive, especially for the huge territory of the USA, but this is a GREAT group of extraordinary natural and cultural places:
Clearly this approach to travel in the USA would probably be supplemented by at least a few days of big city sightseeing. Many coming to America may want to see places like Las Vegas and Hollywood which are unlikely to ever have “UNESCO World Heritage” status. But the UNESCO list is a superb starting points for your travel, especially to unfamiliar areas. For the trip to Vietnam I was happy that the list seems to match up well with the “word of mouth” information I’ve been collecting from my Vietnamese pals and others. There I’ll be able to take in most of the UNESCO sites such as historic Hoi An, Saigon, Hanoi, and Ha Long Bay near Hanoi. In Italy in June my favorite place was the Cinque Terre – a UNESCO site. Interestingly, the Cinque Terre and some places really seem to play up this status where I didn’t even know Yosemite was on the list until I checked this morning.
Jul 6, 2008
Sunset Magazine is profiling Lassen National Park in Northern California, showcasing Lassen as a hidden treasure of the west. Although I’d agree that Lassen is a neat place to visit on an extended stay in the west, for me Lassen simply does not match the superlatives of Yosemite or Redwoods National Park the Oregon Coast, or many more of the amazing natural wonders here in the American West.
If you love National Park trips you’ll want to consider flying in and out of San Francisco and then driving southeast to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks they share a border), then up to Yosemite, then Lassen, then North to Oregon’s Crater Lake. You can visit these five national parks in a week although you’ll probably want to spend more time.
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