Sierra Nevada

For sheer grandeur and superlatives, it is hard to compete with the Sierra Nevada. The “Range of Light,” as Ansel Adams so aptly nicknamed them, cover over 39,000 square miles or about the same amount of real estate as Virginia. In that space you will find the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States (Mt. Whitney) as well as one of the deepest gorges in the country (Kings Canyon), the nation’s second deepest lake (Lake Tahoe), and North America’s tallest waterfall (Yosemite Falls) in one of the world’s most famous and visited national parks (Yosemite).

And if it were not for the Gold Rush the Sierra Nevada spawned, the diverse and powerful entity that has come to be known as The Golden State would not exist, at least not in its present form.

Sierra Nevada

Beautiful Lake Tahoe fills the largest basin in the Sierra Nevada Range to a depth of over 1,600 feet. Renowned for the clarity of its ice-blue waters, silt runoff, algae blooms and pollution have lowered the water clarity in recent decades.

Glacial Landforms

The pointed spire of Cathedral Peak in Yosemite National Park is the result of glacial geomorphology. Glaciers acting on multiple sides of the peak have removed rock forming a pyramidal feature known as a horn.

Half Dome

Half Dome is one of the most recognizable natural features in the Golden State. This glacially carved granite dome rises more than 4,700' from the valley floor.

Alpine Lakes

Bullfrog Lake, at 10,627' is an alpine lake in Kings Canyon National Park. Its waters are clear and cold and home to the state fish: The Golden Trout.

Clouds in the Valley

A thick layer of fog hugs the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Sequoia National Park hiding the Central Valley from view.

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