Yosemite National Park

views updated

Yosemite National Park Spectacular national park, established 1890, in the Sierra Nevada range of central California, USA. Yosemite means ‘grizzly bear’, and the park was named after the river that runs through it. It is a mountainous area of glacial gorges and granite cliffs rising to the 3990m (13,090ft) of Mount Lyell. Yosemite Falls, the highest waterfall in North America, drops 739m (2425ft) in two stages. Other features include Half Dome Mountain and the vertical rock-face of El Capitan. Area: 308,335ha (761320 acres).

http://www.nps.gov/yose

More From encyclopedia.com