Must see attractions in Yosemite & the Sierra Nevada

A five-minute walk on a paved trail (0.3 miles) leads to one of the park’s most accessible waterfalls, a 40ft chute gushing into a granite bowl. In late…

About 3 miles northeast of the park’s Big Stump Entrance, Grant Grove Village is the park’s main tourist hub year-round, with lodge and cabin…

The Yosemite Museum has Miwok and Paiute artifacts, including woven baskets, beaded buckskin dresses and dance capes made from feathers. Native American…

Above the north shore of the Tuolumne River, carbonated mineral water burbles silently out of Soda Springs, a small natural spring that turns its…

About a quarter-mile east of Yosemite Village, the former Ahwahnee Hotel is a picture of rustic elegance, dating back to 1927. You don’t need to be a…

For a breathtaking view of Kings Canyon, head 2.3 miles up narrow, steep and winding Panoramic Point Rd (trailers and RVs aren’t recommended), which…

Panoramic Hope Valley, ringed by Sierra Nevada peaks that may remain dusted with snow even in early summer, is home to wildflowers, meadows and burbling…

Built in 1923 and staffed during the wildfire season, this fire lookout is one of the finest restored watchtowers you could ever hope to visit. A total of…

Rising above the southern shore of Mono Lake, Panum Crater is the youngest (about 640 years old), smallest and most accessible of the craters that string…

This simple but beautifully rugged cabin was built in 1915 from local granite. It initially served as a Sierra Club meeting room and was named for Edward…

Cedar Grove, at the bottom of Kings Canyon, is the last outpost of civilization before you reach the rugged grandeur of the Sierra Nevada backcountry. The…

Visitors can drive through a 2000-year-old tree, which fell naturally in 1937. It once stood 275ft high with a base measuring 21ft in diameter. Regular…

On excursions to Kings Canyon, John Muir would allegedly give talks on this large, flat river boulder, a short walk from the Road's End parking lot and…

Where the Merced River courses around two small islands lies Happy Isles, a popular area for picnics, swimming and strolls on marked paths and a small…

During the 1920s, wealthy Santa Barbara businessman George Knapp built this simple wood-shingled cabin to store gear in during his extravagant fishing and…

On the north shore of Mono Lake are the Black Point Fissures, narrow crags that opened when a lava mass cooled and contracted about 13,000 years ago…

Pothole Dome marks the western end of Tuolumne Meadows. It’s small by Yosemite standards, but the short, 200ft climb to the top offers great views of the…

A stunning wilderness area 44,000 acres in size and bisected by the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway (Hwy 180). Monarch includes dramatic, high-elevation alpine…

When it was dammed in 1908, this 87-acre artificial lake powered a huge log flume that whisked sequoias harvested in Converse Basin to a mill more than 70…

At 1600 ft, Ribbon Falls, only seen from the west side of El Capitan, is the highest single drop falls in North America. There's no signage and no real…