State Parks and Campgrounds---
State Tourist Travel Information
Nature’s Beauty on a Grand Scale!
What word could you use to describe the beauty of Yosemite National Park? How about breath-taking? And, I’m not even sure that that one is adequate. Yosemite National Park which is located in the Sierra Nevada of California, features mountains, waterfalls, meadows and giant sequoia trees. And, what a combination of those things, Yosemite National Park is.
Yosemite National Park has been a national park since October of 1890. The national park covers 761,266 acres of land. 93% of the park is wilderness. Among the highlights of the park are these beauties: Glacier Point; Yosemite Valley; Mariposa Grove (home of hundreds of ancient sequoias); Tuolumne Meadows; Hetch Hetchy.
In the year 2002, 3.3 million people visited Yosemite National Park. The park is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There are roads (Tioga; Glacier Point; Mariposa Grove) in the park which are closed during the months of October-May, because of wintry weather road conditions. Otherwise, most roads are open year-round. (It’s a good idea to have tire chains with you, if traveling to Yosemite from October to May, just in case they may be needed).
Among the many recreational activities at Yosemite National Park are these:
auto touring; backpacking; swimming; fishing; hiking; stargazing; wildlife watching; bird watching; rock climbing; cross country skiing; snow skiing; kayaking; camping, biking; and nature walks.
The Yosemite National Park visitor centers are located in Yosemite Valley (open year round) and Tuolumne Meadows (summer only). Information stations are located in Wawona (open spring—fall) and Big Oak Flat (open spring-fall).
Entrance fees to Yosemite include these options: Annual Pass--$40; Individual Pass (person on foot, motorcycle, or bike)--$10 (good for 7 days); Vehicle Pass--$20 (good for 7 days).
To get to Yosemite, there are several different ways which you can go. From Fresno, go north on Highway 41, all the way to the park’s south entrance. Or, from Merced, California, go west on Highway 140 to the Arch Rock entrance. And finally, you can go from Modesto and Manteca, by going west on Highway 120 all the way to the Big Oak Flat entrance.
Yosemite National Park is a thing of beauty, one of God’s prettier creations. If you go there once, you’ll want to go back again and again. Trust me.