Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park. The park, which is managed by the National Park Service, covers an area of 747,956 acres and reached across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Over 3.7 million people visit Yosemite each year, most spend the majority of the time either hiking, rock climbing, or just there to get away from work and relax. Yosemite is recognized for it’s fascinating granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams and their giant sequoia trees. Yosemite is one of the largest and least granetted.  habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals. The park has an elevation range form 2,127 to 13,114 feet and contains five major vegetation zones.

Yosemite Valley has been inhabited for nearly 3,000 years, though humans may have first visited the area as longs as 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. The indigenous native called themselves the Ahwahneechee. They are related to Northern Paiute and Mono tribes. The California Gold Rush in the mid-19th century increased travel by European Americans in the area. Tensions between Native Americans and white settler escalated into the Maripose War. As part of this conflict, settler James Savage led the Mariposa Battalion into Yosemite Valley in 1851.

Almost all of the landforms in the Yosemite area are cut from the rocks of the Sierra Nevada Batholith. About 5% of the parks landforms are volcanic and sedimentary rocks. These rocks are called roof pendants because they were once the roof of the underlying granite rock. The single most erosive force over the last few million years has been large alpine glaciers, which have turned the valleys into U- Shaped canyons.

Wildlife species typically found in theses habitats include American black bear, bobcat, cougar, gray fox, mule deer, mountain king snake, Gilbert’s skink, white-headed woodpecker,brown creeper, spotted owl, and a wide variety of bat species.  Yosemite shelters 37 species of native trees and hundreds of species of native wildflowers, many of which can be found only in the park. Of course trees are what you’ll notice the most as far as plant life in Yosemite. Some of the tree species are Ponderosa Pine, Incense-Cedar, California Black Oak, and Giant Sequoias.

Yosemite is one of the most fascinating places I have ever been and I learned a lot from going there. It’s a natural beauty and there are not that many other places in California that are like Yosemite.  Enjoy it while it’s still here.