Sierra Nevada

Introducing Sierra Nevada

If you’ve done coastal, cultural, creative and culinary California, it might be time to shake off all those civilizing influences and discover another side of the state altogether. This would be, of course, the nature, adventure, blue skies and sheer wildness of its dominant mountain range, the majestic Sierra Nevada. This is where you come to shed all the stresses nibbling at your psyche and to get back to some elemental discoveries about yourself and where you fit into Nature’s grand design.

The Sierra is possibly the most accessible range of its size anywhere in the world and it’s certainly among the most beautiful. Classic Western towns harkening back to the Gold Rush days are its handmaidens and the portals through which an endless stream of seekers pursue their dreams: artists, fishers, trekkers, hedonists, deep-powder crowds and those who are only truly alive when belayed 1000ft above the ground on naked granite. Each group approaches with its distinct visions of perfection and the Sierra disappoints none of them.

John Muir called it the ‘Range of Light’ and the 400-mile-long phalanx of craggy peaks and awesome landscapes still tugs mightily at the hearts of visionaries, wanderers and those hungry for adventure - or peace. Cradling three of the nation’s most dazzling national parks (Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon), the Sierra is quite literally a wonderland of superlatives. It’s home to the contiguous USA’s highest mountain, North America’s tallest waterfall and the world’s biggest tree. It’s all there for the taking, demanding only that you bring a sense of wonderment and respect.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009