Home>USA Natural Sites>Yosemite National Park, Central California
On your itinerary to USA, you should travel to the Yosemite National Park, Central California. The Yosemite National Park is located in the eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California of United States of America. This Yosemite National Park, Central California covers an area of 761,266 acres and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain. The Yosemite Park is visited by over 3.5 million people each year.
Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite National Park, Central California is world famous because of its stunning granite cliffs, cascading waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia groves, and biological diversity. The Yosemite National Park is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat regions in Sierra Nevada. The park is a home to various species of plants, animals and birds.
The Yosemite National Park, Central California has an elevation range from 2,000 to 13,114 feet and contains 5 major vegetation zones, oak woodland, lower montane, upper montane, subalpine, and alpine. More than 20% of 7,000 plant species can be found in Yosemite. The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks and remnants of the older rocks.
About 1 million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in the Yosemite Valley may have even reached to 4,000 feet during the early glacial episode.
Popular features at the Yosemite Valley and Park includes El Capitan, a prominent granite cliff that looms over the valley, and is one of the most popular rock climbing destinations in the world. Travelers will also get to view granite domes such as the Sentinel Rock and Half Dome that rise 3,000 feet and 4,800 feet respectively.