Yosemite National Park, California
Date: 2016-04-06T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Yosemite National Park (Calif.) -- Guidebooks

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Yosemite National Park, California

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Yosemite National Park, California

Author: United States. National Park Service

Release date: April 6, 2016 [eBook #51675]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

Credits: E-text prepared by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA ***

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Yosemite National Park, California, by Anonymous

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Harold L. Ickes, Secretary

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Arno B. Cammerer, Director

YOSEMITE
NATIONAL PARK
CALIFORNIA

OPEN ALL YEAR

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1935

II

WELCOME TO YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

In bidding you welcome the National Park Service asks you to remember that you are visiting a great playground that belongs in part to you, and that while you are at liberty to go anywhere in the park with perfect freedom, you owe it to yourself and to your fellow citizens not to do anything that will injure the trees, the wild animals or birds, or any of the natural features of the park.

The park regulations are designed for the protection of the natural beauties and scenery as well as for the comfort and convenience of visitors. The following synopsis is for the general guidance of visitors, who are requested to assist the administration by observing the rules.

RULES AND REGULATIONS
(Briefed)

Fires.—Light carefully and in designated places. Extinguish COMPLETELY before leaving camp even for temporary absence. Do not guess your fire is out—KNOW IT. Do not throw burning tobacco or matches on road or trail sides.

Camps.—Register at camp entrance. Keep your camp clean. Burn all combustible material and place all garbage in cans provided. Camp at least 25 feet from other tents, buildings, or water hydrants.

Trash.—Do not throw paper, lunch refuse, kodak cartons or paper, chewing-gum paper, or other trash on roads, trails, or elsewhere. Ball up and carry until you can burn in camp or place in receptacle.

Trees, Flowers, and Animals.—The destruction, injury, or disturbance in any way of the trees, flowers, birds, or animals is prohibited. Dead and fallen wood, except sequoia, may be used for firewood.

Noises.—Be quiet in camp after others have gone to bed. Many people come here for rest.

Automobiles.—Speed limit in park is 35 miles per hour. Drive carefully at all times. Keep cut-outs closed. Obey park traffic rules. Secure automobile permit, fee $2.

Park Rangers.—The rangers are here to help and advise you as well as to enforce the regulations. When in doubt ask a ranger.

Warning About Bears.—Do not feed the bears from the hand; they are wild animals and may bite, strike, or scratch you. They will not harm you if not fed at close range. Bears will enter or break into automobiles if food that they can smell is left inside. They will also rob your camp of unprotected food supplies, especially in the early spring or late fall when food is scarce. It is best to suspend food supplies in a box well out of their reach between two trees. Bears are especially hungry in the fall of the year and serious loss or damage may result if food is left accessible to them.

All articles lost or found should be reported to the ranger headquarters in the New Village, to any ranger station, or to the offices at Camp Curry, Yosemite Lodge, or the Ahwahnee. Persons should leave their name and address so that articles which are not claimed within 60 days may be turned over to the finders.

Suggestions, complaints, or comments regarding any phase of park management, including the operation of camp grounds, hotels, and attitude of employees, should be communicated immediately to the superintendent.

C. G. Thomson, Superintendent.

III

CONTENTS

PAGE

The Yosemite Valley 1
How the Valley Was Formed 3
Waterfalls 3

Altitude of Summits Inclosing Yosemite Valley 6

Height of Waterfalls 4

Glacier Point and the Rim of Yosemite Valley 4

The Big Trees 7

The Wawona Basin 8

Hetch Hetchy Valley 8

Tuolumne Meadows 10

Pate Valley 11

The Northern Canyons 12

The Mountain Climax of the Sierra 12

Merced and Washburn Lakes 13

Climate and Seasons 13

Winter Sports 14

Trails and Hikes 15

Fishing 17

How to Reach the Park 20
By Automobile 20
By Railroad and Auto Stage 22
By Airplane 22
Administration 23

Information Bureau 23

Free Educational Service 23
Museum 24
Yosemite Field School of Natural History 26
Ranger-Naturalist Outpost 26
Accommodations for Visitors 26
Free Public Camp Grounds 26

Hotels, Lodges, Housekeeping Cabins, and Camps 27

Yosemite Transportation System 30
Stage Trips 31
Saddle Trips 31-32
Valley Floor Rides 32
Stores and News Stands 32
Photographic Service 32
Laundries 33
Barber Shops 33
Garage Service 33
Children’s Playground 34
Postal Service 34
Express Service 35
Telephone and Telegraph Service 35
Medical and Hospital Service 35
Church Services 35
References 36

Publications for Sale at Museum 37

Government Publications 40

IV

IMPORTANT EVENTS IN YOSEMITE’S HISTORY

1851. | Mariposa Battalion discovered Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point, March 25. Name “Yosemite Valley” applied.
1855. | J. M. Hutchings organized first party of sightseers to enter Yosemite Valley.
1856. | “Lower Hotel”, first permanent structure, built by Walworth and Hite at base of Sentinel Rock.
1858. | Cedar Cottage built; still in use.
1864. | Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Big Trees granted to California as a State park.
1868. | John Muir made his first trip to Yosemite.
1871. | Conway started work on Four-Mile Trail to Glacier Point. Finished in 1872.
1874. | Coulterville Road built to Valley floor. Big Oak Flat route completed to Yosemite Valley.
1875. | Wawona Road built to floor of Yosemite Valley.
1876. | Sentinel Hotel built.
1881. | Tunnel cut through Wawona Tree.
1882. | Tioga Road constructed. John Conway built Glacier Point Road.
1890. | Yosemite National Park created October 1.

1891.

Capt. A. E. Wood, first park superintendent, arrived with Federal troops to administer park, May 17. Headquarters at Wawona.

1899. | Camp Curry established.
1900. | Holmes Brothers, of San Jose, drove first automobile (a Stanley Steamer) into Yosemite over the Wawona Road.

1906.

Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove receded to United States. Superintendent’s headquarters (Maj. H. C. Benson, superintendent) moved to Yosemite Valley.

1907. | Yosemite Valley Railroad opened for travel to El Portal. Visitors, 7,102.
1913. | Automobiles admitted to Yosemite Valley.
1914. | Civilian employees replaced military in administration of park. Visitors, 15,154.
1915. | Stephen T. Mather purchased Tioga Road; presented it to Federal Government.
1916. | National Park Service Act passed August 25.
1917. | Stephen T. Mather made Director of the National Park Service. Glacier Point Hotel built and opened.
1919. | First airplane landed in Yosemite Valley, May 27, Lt. J. S. Krull, pilot, alone.
1920. | Construction started on All-Year Highway up Merced Canyon. Visitors, 68,906.
1923. | Hikers’ camps installed. Visitors, 130,046.
1924. | New administration center and village developed.

1925.

Yosemite Park & Curry Co. formed by consolidation of Curry Camping Co. and Yosemite National Park Co. Park visitors, 209,166.

1926. | All-Year Highway completed and dedicated July 31.
1927. | Ahwahnee Hotel opened by Yosemite Park & Curry Co. The second largest travel year in park history—490,430 visitors.
1930. | Reconstruction of log cabin in Mariposa Grove to house Museum of Big Trees. Park visitors, 458,566.
1931. | Construction of 4,233-foot tunnel through Turtleback Dome for new Wawona Road.

1932.

Wawona basin of 14 square miles added to the park. New Wawona Road and tunnel completed. Big Trees Lodge constructed. Largest travel year in park history—498,289 visitors.

V

WHAT TO DO AND SEE IN YOSEMITE

Here are a few suggestions to help you plan your time in Yosemite to best advantage. This is a summer schedule—in winter see special programs posted on bulletin boards at hotels.

Do not hurry through Yosemite—take the time to at least visit all points of interest in the Valley and do not leave the park without seeing the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees and the wonderful panoramic view from Glacier Point.

GENERAL

Visit the Yosemite Museum, located in the New Village, open 8 a. m. to 5 p. m. Interesting exhibits of the geology, Indians, early history, trees, flowers, birds, and mammals of Yosemite. Wild-flower garden and demonstrations of native Indian life in back of museum. Short talks on geology of the Valley given several times each day. Library, information desk, and headquarters for nature guide service. Maps and booklets.

Take the auto caravan tour of the Valley floor with your own car, starting from the museum at 9:30 a. m. and 2 p. m. A ranger-naturalist leads the caravan and explains the interesting features of Yosemite on this free trip of about 2 hours around the Valley, every day except Sunday and holidays.

A daily tour of the Valley in open stages is an ideal way to see the most in a short time. Inquire at Camp Curry, Yosemite Lodge, or the Ahwahnee for rates and schedules on stage transportation.

Visitors desiring to make an unescorted tour of the Valley should take the Valley floor loop road, stopping at points of interest which are signed. See detailed map of Valley. See the wonderful view of the whole expanse of the Valley from the east portal of the 4,233-foot tunnel, a short, easy drive of 1½ miles up the new Wawona Road, just west of Bridalveil Fall.

Take trips afield with a ranger-naturalist. See posted daily schedules.

During July and August a naturalist leads a party once each week on a 7-day hiking trip through the spectacular high-mountain regions of the park, stopping each night at a High Sierra camp. See bulletins posted at hotels and camps.

Visit the fish hatchery at Happy Isles.

See the sunrise at Mirror Lake.

Camp-fire entertainments every night except Sunday in Camp 14.

VI

Outdoor entertainments every evening at 8 o’clock at Camp Curry.

See the fire fall each night at 9 o’clock from the upper end of the Valley or at Camp Curry.

Bears are fed every evening at 9:30 o’clock about 2 miles west of the Old Village.

Dances every evening except Sunday at 9 o’clock at Camp Curry.

See complete programs of weekly events which are posted at camps, hotels, and lodges.

Visit Yosemite both summer and winter—The all-year highway is open every day of the year. Keep your Yosemite automobile permit—it is good for the entire year. Each season has its particular charm.

In spring—booming waterfalls, rushing streams, green meadows.

In summer—ideal camping, High Sierra trips, good fishing.

In autumn—beautiful autumn coloring, ideal Indian summer weather.

In winter—a different Yosemite, with snow mantling trees and cliffs, all-winter sports—skating, skiing, tobogganing.

1-DAY MOTOR TRIPS

To Glacier Point.—Thirty miles (about 1½ hours) each way. Paved highway to Chinquapin, 14 miles, and good oiled road from there to Glacier Point. Leave the Valley on the Wawona Road just west of Bridalveil Fall. Visit Sentinel Dome, elevation 8,117 feet—a one-half mile drive and short climb from the main road above Glacier Point. Wonderful panorama of the High Sierra and the Valley. Camp ground and hotel at Glacier Point.

To the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees.—Thirty-five miles (about 1½ hours) each way. Paved highway. Leave the Valley just west of Bridalveil Fall; go through the 4,233-foot tunnel; wonderful views along this road. Hotels, camp ground, garage, golf, saddle horses at Wawona, 27 miles from the Valley. See the oldest and largest living things in the world and the tunnel tree through which cars may be driven. There is a new hotel and good camp ground at the Big Trees.

To Hetch Hetchy Dam and Valley.—Thirty-eight miles (about 2 hours) each way. Good, oiled, mountain road. Leave the Valley at El Capitan station; one-way road for first 4 miles, and cars must leave on the even hours-6 to 6:25 a. m., 8 to 8:25 a. m., 10 to 10:25 a. m., and so on throughout the day. See the Tuolumne Grove of Big Trees and visit the fire lookout tower, 1½ miles west of Crane Flat.

Also Daily Stages to These Scenic Points; Inquire at Hotels.

VII

1-DAY HIKES FROM VALLEY—DISTANCES GIVEN ONE WAY

To Sierra Point.—Marvelous view of four waterfalls and Valley. Three-fourths of a mile of steep trail branching off the Vernal Fall Trail, just above Happy Isles (about 2-hour trip, not a horse trail).

To Vernal Fall.—One and six-tenths miles from start of the trail at Happy Isles.

To Nevada Fall.—Three and four-tenths miles from start of the trail at Happy Isles.

To Glacier Point.—Eight and three-tenths miles from start of the trail at Happy Isles (via the long trail by Vernal and Nevada Falls, Panorama Cliff, and Illilouette Fall).

To Glacier Point (via “Four Mile Trail”).—Four and six-tenths miles from start of trail, 1 mile west of Old Village.

To Top of Half Dome.—Seven and seven-tenths miles from start of trail at Happy Isles, via Vernal and Nevada Falls; 900 feet of steel cables on climb up Dome.

To Top of Yosemite Falls.—Three and six-tenths miles from start of trail, one-fourth mile west of Yosemite Lodge. Eagle Peak is 2.6 miles farther on.

Saddle trips daily to most of these points. Inquire at hotels or stables for horses.

A taxi service is available for all hikers, to and from the start of trails in the upper half of the Valley, at 25 cents per person. Telephones are available at base of all trails.

All hikers are warned to stay on designated trails—do not take short cuts across zigzags; you may dislodge rocks that will injure someone below. On the long hikes to the rim of the Valley, start early when it is cool and get back before dark. Hikers going into isolated sections of the park or off the regular trails should register at the chief ranger’s office before starting.

Accurate information on roads, trails, fishing, and camping, and maps of the park are available without charge at park headquarters, the museum, and ranger stations.

VIII

Big Trees Lodge nestled among the giant sequoias.

1

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

The Yosemite National Park is much greater, both in area and beauty, than is generally known. Nearly all Americans who have not explored it consider it identical with the far-famed Yosemite Valley. The fact is that the Valley is only a very small part, indeed, of this glorious public pleasure ground. It was established October 1, 1890, but its boundary lines have been changed several times since then. It now has an area of 1,176.16 square miles, 752,744 acres.

This magnificent pleasure land lies on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada about 200 miles due east of San Francisco. The crest of the range is its eastern boundary as far south as Mount Lyell. The rivers which water it originate in the everlasting snows. A thousand icy streams converge to form them. They flow west through a marvelous sea of peaks, resting by the way in hundreds of snow-bordered lakes, romping through luxuriant valleys, rushing turbulently over rocky heights, swinging in and out of the shadows of mighty mountains.

The Yosemite Valley occupies 8 square miles out of a total of 1,176 square miles in the Yosemite National Park. The park above the rim is less celebrated principally because it is less known. It is less known principally because it was not opened to the public by motor road until 1915. Now several roads and 700 miles of trail make much of the spectacular high-mountain region of the park easily accessible.

For the rest, the park includes, in John Muir’s words, “the headwaters of the Tuolumne and Merced Rivers, two of the most songful streams in the world; innumerable lakes and waterfalls and smooth silky lawns; the noblest forests, the loftiest granite domes, the deepest ice-sculptured canyons, the brightest crystalline pavements, and snowy mountains soaring into the sky twelve and thirteen thousand feet, arrayed in open ranks and spiry pinnacled groups partially separated by tremendous canyons and amphitheaters; gardens on their sunny brows, avalanches thundering down their long white slopes, cataracts roaring gray and foaming in the crooked, rugged gorges, and glaciers in their shadowy recesses, working in silence, slowly completing their sculptures; new-born lakes at their feet, blue and green, free or encumbered with drifting icebergs like miniature Arctic Oceans, shining, sparkling, calm as stars.”

THE YOSEMITE VALLEY

Little need be said of the Yosemite Valley. After these many years of visitation and exploration it remains incomparable. It is often said that 2 the Sierra contains “many Yosemites,” but there is no other of its superabundance of sheer beauty. It has been so celebrated in book and magazine and newspaper that the Three Brothers, El Capitan, Bridalveil Fall, Cathedral Spires, Mirror Lake, Half Dome, and Glacier Point are old familiar friends to millions who have never seen them except in picture.

The Yosemite Valley was discovered in 1851 as an incidental result of the effort to settle Indian problems which had arisen in that region. Dr. L. H. Bunnel, a member of the expedition, suggested the appropriateness of naming it after the aborigines who dwelt there. It rapidly became celebrated.

An unusual view of Yosemite Valley from the Nevada Fall Trail.

No matter what their expectation, most visitors are delightfully astonished upon entering the Yosemite Valley. The sheer immensity of the precipices on either side of the Valley’s peaceful floor; the loftiness and the romantic suggestion of the numerous waterfalls; the majesty of the granite walls; and the unreal, almost fairy quality of the ever-varying whole cannot be successfully foretold. The Valley is 7 miles long. Its floor averages 1 mile in width, its walls rising from 3,000 to 4,000 feet.

3

HOW THE VALLEY WAS FORMED

After the visitor has recovered from his first shock of astonishment—for it is no less—at the beauty of the Valley, inevitably he wonders how nature made it. How did it happen that walls so enormous rise so nearly perpendicular from the level floor of the Valley?

When the Sierra Nevada was formed by the gradual tipping of a great block of the earth’s crust 400 miles long and 80 miles wide, streams draining this block were pitched very definitely toward the west and with torrential force cut deep canyons. The period of tipping and stream erosion covered so many thousands of centuries that the Merced River was able to wear away the sedimentary rocks several thousand feet in thickness, which covered the granite and then in the Yosemite Valley region to cut some 2,000 feet into this very hard granite. Meantime the north and south flowing side streams of the Merced, such as Yosemite Creek, not benefited by the tipping of the Sierra block, could not cut as fast as their parent stream and so were left high up as hanging valleys.

During the Ice Age great glaciers formed at the crest of the range and flowed down these streams, cutting deep canyons and especially widening them. At the maximum period the ice came within 700 feet of the top of Half Dome. It overrode Glacier Point and extended perhaps a mile below El Portal. Glaciers deepened Yosemite Valley 500 feet at the lower end and 1,500 feet opposite Glacier Point; then widened it 1,000 feet at the lower end and 3,600 feet in the upper half. The V-shaped canyon which had resulted from stream erosion was now changed to a U-shaped trough; the Yosemite Cataract was changed to Yosemite Fall. As the last glacier melted back from the Valley a lake was formed, the filling in of which by sediments has produced the practically level floor now found from El Capitan to Half Dome.

Visitors to the park should join an auto caravan to study evidences first hand and hear the story of the geology of Yosemite discussed by the ranger-naturalists.

WATERFALLS

The depth to which the Valley was cut by streams and glaciers is measured roughly by the extraordinary height of the waterfalls which pour over the rim.

The Upper Yosemite Fall, for instance, drops 1,430 feet in one sheer fall, a height equal to nine Niagara Falls piled one on top of the other. The Lower Yosemite Fall, immediately below, has a drop of 320 feet, or two Niagaras more. Counting the series of cascades in between, the total drop from the crest of Yosemite Fall to the Valley floor is 2,565 feet. Vernal Fall 4 has a drop of 317 feet; Illilouette Fall, 370 feet. The Nevada Fall drops 594 feet sheer; the celebrated Bridalveil Fall, 620 feet; while the Ribbon Fall, highest of all, drops 1,612 feet sheer, a straight fall nearly 10 times as high as Niagara. Nowhere else in the world may be seen a water spectacle such as this.

The falls are at their fullest in May and June while the winter snows are melting. They are still running in July, but after that decrease rapidly in volume, Yosemite Fall often drying up entirely by August 15 when there has been little rain or snow. But let it not be supposed that the beauty of the falls depends upon the amount of water that pours over their brinks. It is true that the May rush of water over the Yosemite Fall is even a little appalling, when the ground sometimes trembles with it half a mile away, but it is equally true that the spectacle of the Yosemite Fall in late July, when, in specially dry seasons, much of the water reaches the bottom of the upper fall in the form of mist, possesses a filmy grandeur that is not comparable probably with any other sight in the world; the one inspires by sheer bulk and power, the other uplifts by its intangible spirit of beauty. To see the waterfalls at their best one should visit Yosemite before July 15.

HEIGHT OF WATERFALLS

Name | Height of fall | Altitude of crest
| | Above sea level | Above pier near Sentinel Hotel
| Feet | Feet | Feet
Yosemite Fall | 1,430 | 6,525 | 2,565
Lower Yosemite Fall | 320 | 4,420 | 460
Nevada Fall | 594 | 5,907 | 1,947
Vernal Fall | 317 | 5,044 | 1,084
Illilouette Fall | 370 | 5,816 | 1,856
Bridalveil Fall | 620 | 4,787 | 827
Ribbon Fall | 1,612 | 7,008 | 3,048
Widows Tears Fall | 1,170 | 6,466 | 2,506

GLACIER POINT AND THE RIM OF YOSEMITE VALLEY

Glacier Point, above the Valley rim, commands a magnificent view of the High Sierra. Spread before one in panorama are the domes, the pinnacles, the waterfalls, and dominating all, Half Dome, a mythical Indian turned to stone. A few steps from the hotel one looks down into Yosemite Valley, 3,254 feet below, where automobiles are but moving specks, tents white dots, and the Merced River a silver tracery on green velvet. From the little stone lookout, perched on the very rim of the gorge, by means of high-powered binoculars installed for that purpose one may study the detail of the High Sierra and its flanking ranges, miles distant, through a sweep of 180°, as though they were at his very feet. A ranger-naturalist is here in summer to assist visitors and to discuss the geology, trees, birds, and wildlife of Yosemite.

5

Yosemite Fall in spring.

6

No visitor should leave Yosemite without seeing Glacier Point. It is the climax of all Yosemite views. It is reached by an excellent paved road which leaves the Valley just west of Bridalveil Fall, and then through the 4,233-foot tunnel to Chinquapin, from which point a good oiled mountain road leads through forests of fir and lodgepole pine to Glacier Point. The total distance is 28 miles, or about 1½ hours drive each way. The fire fall is a nightly feature and takes on an entirely different aspect from the top of the cliff. A short drive of a half mile from the main road above Glacier Point brings one to Sentinel Dome, 8,117 feet in elevation, where an unobstructed panorama of the southern half of the park may be had, from the coast range on the west to the snow-capped ridge of the Sierra on the east. A hotel, cafeteria, and Government camp ground are available at Glacier Point.

ALTITUDE OF SUMMITS INCLOSING YOSEMITE VALLEY

Name | Altitude above sea level | Altitude above pier near Sentinel Hotel
| Feet | Feet
Basket Dome | 7,602 | 3,642
Cathedral Rocks | 6,551 | 2,592
Cathedral Spires | 6,114 | 2,154
Clouds Rest | 9,930 | 5,964
Columbia Rock | 5,031 | 1,071
Eagle Peak | 7,773 | 3,813
El Capitan | 7,564 | 3,604
Glacier Point | 7,214 | 3,254
Half Dome | 8,852 | 4,892
Leaning Tower | 5,863 | 1,903
Liberty Cap | 7,072 | 3,112
North Dome | 7,531 | 3,571
Old Inspiration Point | 6,603 | 2,643
Panorama Point | 6,224 | 2,264
Profile Cliff | 7,503 | 3,543
Pulpit Rock | 4,195 | 765
Sentinel Dome | 8,117 | 4,157
Stanford Point | 6,659 | 2,699
Taft Point | 7,503 | 3,543
Washington Column | 5,912 | 1,952
Yosemite Point | 6,935 | 2,975

7

THE BIG TREES

One of the best groves of giant sequoia trees outside of the Sequoia National Park is found in the extreme south of the Yosemite National Park and is called the Mariposa Grove. It is reached from the Wawona Road, which enters the park from the south. From the Yosemite Valley it is an easy drive of 35 miles over a paved, high-gear road requiring about 1½ hours each way. Unsurpassed views of the whole expanse of Yosemite Valley may be had from the east portal of the new 4,233-foot tunnel and, from the Wawona Road, an extensive outlook over the South Fork Basin and four or five ranges of foothills of the Sierra is a sight long to be remembered, especially at sunset when the mountain ranges turn to many shades of purple and gray.

All visitors to the Mariposa Grove should take the side trip to Glacier Point, a distance of 16 miles each way, the road branching off at Chinquapin. Here one may obtain an unsurpassed panorama of the High Sierra.

The new Big Trees Lodge in the upper grove is located in a beautiful grove of sequoias, 20 to 30 feet in diameter, and affords excellent accommodations, with cafeteria service available to all. The Government provides a public camp ground near the entrance to the Big Tree Grove. Hotels and camp grounds are also available at Wawona, 9 miles north of the grove on the Wawona Road. Stages are run daily throughout the summer to Glacier Point, Wawona, and Big Trees. Visitors to the grove are urged to take plenty of time and really grasp the significance of these giant trees, the oldest and largest living things on earth.

The Grizzly Giant is the oldest tree in the grove, with a base diameter of 27.6 feet, girth of 96.5 feet, and height of 209 feet. There is no accurate way of knowing the age of the Grizzly Giant but its size and gnarled appearance indicate that it is at least 3,800 years old.

A ranger-naturalist is on duty at the Big Trees Museum and gives talks on the trees. Near the museum is the fallen Massachusetts tree, an immense sequoia, 280 feet long and 28 feet in diameter, that was blown over in the winter of 1927. As the tree is broken into several sections, it provides a fine opportunity to study the rings and the character of the wood. By climbing the length of this fallen tree one receives a graphic impression of the size of these monarchs. In August 1934 another giant, the “Stable” tree fell. It is located just above the museum. Visitors should continue up the road to the famous tunnel tree, the Wawona, and drive through the opening 8 feet wide that was cut in 1881. This tree is 231 feet tall and 27½ feet in diameter. A little farther up the road a wonderful 8 view over the Wawona Basin and South Fork Canyon may be had at Wawona Point, elevation 6,890 feet; especially fine are the views at sunset from this point.

There are two other groves of Big Trees in Yosemite. The Tuolumne Grove, located on the Big Oak Flat Road, 17 miles from the Valley, contains some 25 very fine specimens and also a huge tree 29½ feet in diameter through which cars may be driven. The other grove, one of unusual natural beauty in a secluded corner of the park, is the Merced Grove of Big Trees, reached by a good dirt road. It is about 5 miles west of Crane Flat off the Big Oak Flat Road.

THE WAWONA BASIN

The Wawona Basin of 14 square miles, added to the park in 1932, provides an extensive area for recreational use. Here camping, riding, and golfing may be enjoyed in a perfect setting along the South Fork of the Merced River. Wawona is located in a beautiful mountain meadow on the new Wawona Road, 27 miles south of the Valley and near the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees. Superb views are obtainable from many points on this road, which leaves the Valley just west of Bridalveil Fall. Saddle and pack animals are available at popular prices for trips to the fine fishing lakes and streams in the southern part of the park. There are also tennis courts and swimming pools. The Wawona Hotel provides both European and American plan service, and operates a coffee shop. Stores, meat market, garage, gas station, and post office are available, and along the river near Wawona is a free camp ground. An emergency airplane landing field is located near the Wawona Hotel.

HETCH HETCHY VALLEY

A good oiled mountain road makes the scenic Hetch Hetchy Valley a short, 2-hour drive by car from Yosemite Valley, a distance of 38 miles each way over the Big Oak Flat Road. This road is a 1-way control road for the first 4 miles after it leaves the Valley near El Capitan. This one-way section is a road of rare charm and beauty with superb views over the Valley. It passes through fine stands of Sugar Pine and Red Fir and the Tuolumne Grove of Big Trees. The road continues on through one of the finest stands of sugar pine left in the world.

A fine paved road extends from Mather down to the Hetch Hetchy Dam, a distance of 9 miles, where one may see San Francisco’s gigantic 300-foot Hetch Hetchy Dam and water supply. The valley is similar to Yosemite, with tumbling waterfalls and precipitous cliffs surrounding a lake 7 miles long. The San Francisco Recreation Camp is located at Mather, near the park line.

9

Men are dwarfed among the giant columns of the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees.

10

Visitors using the Big Oak Flat Road are urged to see the wonderful panorama of the High Sierra from the fire look-out tower, 1½ miles over an oiled road just west of Crane Flat. The fire guard on duty will be glad to explain the points of interest and show visitors how fires are located and put under control.

TUOLUMNE MEADOWS

John Muir, in describing the upper Tuolumne region, writes:

It is the heart of the High Sierra, 8,500 to 9,000 feet above the level of the sea. The gray picturesque Cathedral Range bounds it on the south; a similar range or spur, the highest peak of which is Mount Conness, on the north; the noble Mounts Dana, Gibbs, Mammoth, Lyell, Maclure, and others on the axis of the range on the east; a heavy billowy crowd of glacier-polished rocks and Mount Hoffmann on the west. Down through the open sunny meadow levels of the Valley flows the Tuolumne River, fresh and cool from its many glacial fountains, the highest of which are the glaciers that lie on the north side of Mount Lyell and Mount Maclure.

A store, gas station, garage, post office, camp ground, High Sierra Camp, and Tuolumne Meadows Lodge make the Meadows an ideal high-mountain camping place and starting point for fishing, hiking, and mountain-climbing trips. Tuolumne Meadows is 67 miles or about a 4-hour drive over the Big Oak Flat and Tioga Roads from Yosemite Valley. Saddle horses are available, and many fine trips may be made to Waterwheel Falls, Mount Lyell, Mount Conness, Glen Aulin, Muir Gorge, and hundreds of good fishing lakes and streams. Stage service to Tuolumne Meadows, Tioga Pass, Mono Lake, and Lake Tahoe is maintained daily throughout the summer months.

Lambert Dome and Mount Dana are conspicuous landmarks of Tuolumne Meadows.

11

Fishing is usually very good in nearby lakes and streams. The Waterwheel Falls, Muir Gorge, the Soda Springs, the spectacular canyon scenery, jewel-like Tenaya Lake, and the Mount Lyell Glacier are a few of the interesting places to visit near Tuolumne Meadows.

John Muir writes this interesting description of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne and Waterwheel Falls:

It is the cascades or sloping falls on the main river that are the crowning glory of the canyon, and these, in volume, extent, and variety, surpass those of any other canyon in the Sierra. The most showy and interesting of them are mostly in the upper part of the canyon above the point of entrance of Cathedral Creek and Hoffmann Creek. For miles the river is one wild, exulting, onrushing mass of snowy purple bloom, spreading over glacial waves of granite without any definite channel, gliding in magnificent silver plumes, dashing and foaming through huge boulder dams, leaping high in the air in wheel-like whirls, displaying glorious enthusiasm, tossing from side to side, doubling, glinting, singing in exuberance of mountain energy.

Muir’s “wheel-like whirls” undoubtedly mean the celebrated Waterwheel Falls. Rushing down the canyon’s slanting granites under great headway, the river encounters shelves of rock projecting from its bottom. From these, enormous arcs of solid water are thrown high in the air. Some of the waterwheels rise 20 feet and span 50 feet in the arc. Unfortunately, the amount of water in the river drops with the advance of summer and the waterwheels lose much of their forcefulness. Visitors should see this spectacle during the period of high water from June 15 to August 1 in normal years.

The Waterwheel Falls may be reached by a good trail 5.5 miles from the Tioga Road down the Tuolumne River Gorge to the Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp, where meals and overnight accommodations are available, then 2.8 miles down the river to Waterwheel Falls. Saddle animals may be rented at Tuolumne Meadows for this trip.

Below the waterwheels the Tuolumne Canyon descends abruptly, the river plunging madly through the mile-deep gorge. Trails built a few years ago down the canyon from the Waterwheel Falls to Pate Valley penetrate the very heart of the gorge. The Muir Gorge, a vertical-walled cleft in the canyon a half mile deep, is, as a result, but 2 hours below Waterwheel Falls and the same above Pate Valley by the new trails. The entire canyon may be traversed with ease either on horseback or on foot.

PATE VALLEY

A few miles farther westward the granite heights slope back more gently and the river suddenly pauses in its tumultuous course to meander through the pines and oaks and cedars of a meadowed flat. Pate Valley has been 12 known for years from the reports of venturesome knapsackers, but now it is made accessible by one of the best trails in the park.

An unnatural smoky blackening of the overhanging cornices of the 200-foot walls almost surrounding the glade leads one to approach them, and there, near the ground, are hundreds of Indian pictographs. These are mysterious, fantastic, and unreadable, but the deep-red stain is as clearly defined as on the day that the red man set down tales of his great hunt, or of famine, or of war, or perhaps of his gods. Here, too, obsidian chips tell the story of preparation for war and the chase, and sharp eyes are rewarded by the sight of many a perfect spear point or arrowhead.

Atop a huge shaded talus block are many bowl-shaped holes, a primitive gristmill where once the squaws ground acorns for their pounded bread, which was the staff of life for so many California tribes. Blackened cooking rocks may be found, and numerous stone pestles lying about in this and two or three similar places seem to point to a hurried departure, but the “when” and “why” of this exodus still remain a mystery.

THE NORTHERN CANYONS

North of the Tuolumne River is an enormous area of lakes and valleys which are seldom visited, notwithstanding that it is penetrated by numerous trails. It is a wilderness of wonderful charm and deserves to harbor a thousand camps. The trout fishing in many of these waters is unsurpassed.

Though unknown to people generally, this superb Yosemite country north of the Valley has been the haunt for many years of the confirmed mountain lovers of the Pacific coast. It has been the favorite resort of the Sierra Club during many years of summer outings.

THE MOUNTAIN CLIMAX OF THE SIERRA

The monster mountain mass, of which Mount Lyell, 13,090 feet high, is the chief, lies on the eastern boundary of the park. It may be reached by trail from Tuolumne Meadows and is well worth the journey. It is the climax of the Sierra in this neighborhood.

The traveler swings from the Tuolumne Meadows around Johnson Peak to Lyell Fork and turns southward up its valley. Huge Kuna Crest borders the trail’s left side for miles. At the head of the Valley, beyond several immense granite shelves, rears the mighty group, Mount Lyell in the center, supported on the north by Mount Maclure and on the south by Rodgers Peak.

The way up is through a vast basin of tumbled granite, encircled at its climax by a titanic rampart of nine sharp, glistening peaks and hundreds 13 of spear-like points, the whole usually cloaked in enormous sweeping shrouds of snow. Presently the granite spurs inclose one. And directly, beyond these, looms a mighty wall of glistening granite which apparently forbids further approach to the mountain’s shrine. But another half hour brings one face to face with Lyell’s rugged top and shining glacier, one of the noblest high places in America. Mount Dana, with its glacier and great variety of alpine flowers, can be climbed in one day from Tuolumne Meadows and now offers a very popular hiking trip.

MERCED AND WASHBURN LAKES

The waters from the western slopes of Lyell and Maclure find their way, through many streams and many lakelets of splendid beauty, into two lakes which are the headwaters of the famous Merced River. The upper of these is Washburn Lake, cradled in bare heights and celebrated for its fishing. This is the formal source of the Merced. Several miles below, the river rests again in beautiful Merced Lake.

One of the six Yosemite High Sierra camps is at the head of Merced Lake. There is a new trail 13 miles from Yosemite Valley to Merced Lake which crosses glacier-polished slopes. It is real wilderness, famous for its good fishing and beautiful scenery.

CLIMATE AND SEASONS

This land of enchantments is a land of enchanted climate. Its summers are warm, but not too warm; dry, but not too dry; its nights cool and marvelously starry. Moonlight on the towering granite walls is unsurpassed in its romantic beauty.

It is a land of sunshine. It is a land of inspiring, often sublime scenery. It is the ideal camping-out ground. Rain seldom falls in the Yosemite between May and October. In winter Yosemite Valley is transformed into a snowy fairyland and all sorts of winter sports may be enjoyed. The weather is mild and sunny most of the time. To many, winter is the finest season in Yosemite. In addition to the toboggans, skating, dog teams, and other winter sports available in the Valley from December 1 to March 1, unlimited areas for snow sports and skiing are now accessible from the new Wawona Road which is open most of the winter.

Spring in Yosemite is most refreshing and exhilarating. It rarely rains and is seldom even cloudy. The falls are at their best; the azalea bushes, which grow to man’s height, blossom forth in flowers exquisite as orchids. The latter part of April or the early part of May the lodges and camps are opened, tents are pitched along the river, and before one knows it summer has arrived.

14

In this season Yosemite has an irresistible appeal. There is every form of enjoyment available. One may live in a lodge, where the honk of an automobile is never heard and where a full day’s catch of trout is assured from nearby lake or stream; one may live in a hotel where mountain scenery is unsurpassed; or one may live in the Valley and enjoy swimming, hiking, nature trips, auto caravans, evening programs, motor trips, fishing, dancing, tennis, golf, and many other forms of entertainment.

Autumn is intensified in the Yosemite. All is quiet. The falls are silent and only a few people and machines are encountered. Nature is supreme. The changing leaves of the dogwood, azaleas, and quaking aspens form a brilliant assortment of colors.

WINTER SPORTS

Yosemite Valley is unusually beautiful in winter, when the fresh snowfalls transform it into a white fairyland and sunset paints the cliffs and domes with rosy alpine glow.

John Muir, in describing the ice cone of the Yosemite Fall, writes:

The frozen spray (of the fall) gives rise to one of the most interesting winter features of the Valley—a cone of ice at the foot of the fall 400 or 500 feet high. * * * When the cone is in the process of formation, growing higher and wider in frosty weather, it looks like a beautiful, smooth, pure white hill.

Winter sports enthusiasts enjoy unexcelled mountain scenery in the high country.

15

The All-Year Highway is open and in good condition every day during the winter months and the Government maintains the roads in safe condition so that chains are not ordinarily needed. It is, however, advisable to carry chains in case they are needed during heavy storms. Information on snow sports and winter road conditions may be obtained at automobile associations. It is advisable to make reservations for rooms on Saturday nights and holidays from December 25 to February 25.

The Wawona Road to the Big Trees is open most of the winter except during periods of unusually heavy snowfall. There are unlimited snow fields for skiing and other snow sports along the Wawona Road, accessible through the tunnel.

The Valley, inclosed by granite walls which shut out the winds, has a mild and balmy winter climate. In fact, these walls really provide two distinct winter climates on opposite sides of the Valley, the north side being many degrees warmer than the south. On the northern side one may motor, ride horseback, and hike in comfort, while on the southern side, screened from the sun by the towering cliffs, all the popular winter sports prevail. Under the auspices of the Yosemite Winter Club, ice hockey matches, curling, fancy costume skating carnivals, snow figure contests, ski-joring races, skating gymkhanas, figure skating exhibitions, Eskimo dog races, and other winter sports events are held throughout the winter season, which usually lasts from December until March.

Competent instructors on the Yosemite Winter Club staff provide group and individual instruction in skiing and plain and fancy skating. Winter sports equipment and clothing may be rented reasonably in the Valley.

The National Park Service maintains a popular free snowslide for the enjoyment of the public. It is called “Ash Can Alley”, because the trip down the slide is made in heavy tin pans that resemble ash-can covers.

Skiing enthusiasts may enjoy excursions of several days’ duration in the high mountain country above Yosemite Valley accompanied by a ski instructor and guide and stopping overnight at ski lodges strategically located at an elevation where the snow is deep throughout the winter and in a region where the ski fields are second to none. Skiing is also enjoyed on ski fields along Wawona Road and adjacent to Glacier Point on the rim of the Valley, reached on foot over a 4-mile trail. The Glacier Point Mountain House is kept open during the winter season.

TRAILS AND HIKES

With nearly 700 miles of well-defined trails radiating from Yosemite Valley to all sections of the park, and with, for the most part, camps, lodges, 16 or hotels situated within an easy day’s walking distance from each other, conditions in Yosemite are particularly adapted to hiking trips. The hiker may go “light”, depending upon the hotels and lodges for accommodations, or he may pack his entire outfit either on his back or upon a pack animal and thereby be entirely independent. During July and August ranger-naturalists conduct regular 7-day hikes through the High Sierra, stopping each night at one of the High Sierra camps above mentioned. There is no charge for this guide service, but hikers desiring to go with these guides should register at the museum in advance.

Roads in Yosemite Valley.
High-resolution Map

17

FISHING

The introduction of game fish into the waters of Yosemite National Park began in 1878, 12 years before the area now confined within the park 18 boundaries had been set aside as a national reservation, when plants of rainbow trout were made in some of the lakes in what is now the northwestern corner of the park. In the following year plants of eastern brook trout were made in the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River, and in 1880 plants of rainbow trout were repeated in the Lake Eleanor country. Nothing more seems to have been done in the way of stocking any of the waters that are now within the park until 1890, the year that the park was created, when a general stocking of the streams and lakes was begun. This was continued, at first intermittently, but from 1911 to 1925 plants of from 100,000 to 400,000 young fry were made annually. The State hatchery was completed at Happy Isles in 1926 and from that year from 500,000 to over 1,000,000 fry have been planted annually by the rangers, with the result that today all of the principal lakes and streams of the park contain one or more well-known species of game fish.

Landing a big one from Elizabeth Lake near Tuolumne Meadows.

It is in the northern canyons, however, that the greatest of all fishing grounds in the entire park are found. Many of the waters of that great area of 500 square miles or more north of the Tuolumne River were stocked years ago with rainbow and eastern brook. Conditions for continued 19 propagation seem to have been exceedingly favorable, with the result that practically all of the lakes and streams now teem with fish life, and the fisherman who seeks fishing de luxe amid surroundings of the most fascinating grandeur of high-mountain scenery will find here a fulfillment of his most ambitious dreams and will be more than repaid for having taken time to penetrate this portion of the park.

In Yosemite National Park few anglers, even the most inexperienced, use bait during the summer or autumn. Of the various artificial flies the California Royal Coachman almost always proves the best lure; gray and brown hackles are also very good. Copper-nickel spinners of the sizes 0 to 2 are often taken in the lakes and sometimes in the streams when the trout are not rising to flies.

The nine species of trout in the waters of the park, about in the order of their relative abundance, are: Eastern brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, Lock Leven trout, cutthroat or black-spotted trout, Tahoe trout, steelhead trout, golden trout.

Information on the best lakes and streams for fishing may be obtained at any ranger station or at park headquarters in the New Village. See posted weekly bulletins.

Persons desiring to fish in the waters of Yosemite National Park must secure a sporting fishing license, as required by the laws of California. These laws provide that every person over the age of 18 years who obtains fish without first taking out a license is guilty of a misdemeanor. The license fee for residents is $2; for nonresidents, $3; and for aliens, $5. These licenses may be obtained from any county clerk, from the State Board of Fish and Game Commissioners, Wawona, Carl Inn, and Tuolumne Meadows, or at the general store in Yosemite Village. All fishing must be done in conformity with the State laws regarding open season, size of fish, and limit of catch.

This spacious museum houses park exhibits.

20

HOW TO REACH THE PARK

BY AUTOMOBILE

All-Year State Highway.—The main paved route to Yosemite Valley from all California points, both north and south, is through Merced on the Pacific Highway through the San Joaquin Valley (Route 99). From Merced the State maintains the splendid paved All-Year Highway to El Portal (Route 140) and from El Portal the National Park Service maintains a similar highway to Yosemite Valley. It is 83 miles long and is the shortest, easiest, and most popular route from Merced, a high-gear modern highway, requiring 2½ hours to drive from Merced to Yosemite Valley. It is open and safely traveled every day of the year.

During the winter months visitors may obtain the latest accurate information on the snow conditions and winter sports at the automobile association offices. Visit the quaint old town of Mariposa, center of the gold rush in the days of ’49. See the oldest courthouse in the State, built in 1854.

By Seasonal Mountain Roads.—There are two other main routes across the Yosemite National Park leading into the Yosemite Valley, viz, the Wawona Road from the south and the Big Oak Flat Road from the north. The Tioga Road crosses the center of the park from east to west and connects with the Big Oak Flat Road. The Wawona Road is reached from Fresno, Madera, or Merced and points south and west of the park. The Big Oak Flat Road may be reached from Stockton, Modesto, Oakdale, and points north and west of the park. The Tioga Road may be reached on the east at Mono Lake from Lake Tahoe and points north, from Tonopah, Nev., and points east, from Bishop, Big Pine, and Mojave, and points south. On the west it connects with the Big Oak Flat Road at Carl Inn. Motorists using these roads will experience no serious difficulty if their cars are in good condition. In wet weather chains are advisable.

21

One of the many meadows in Yosemite.

22

The Tioga Road.—Up the east slope of the Sierra Nevadas, through the scenic, spectacular Leevining Canyon, and from east to west across the mountain-top paradise winds the Tioga Road, which has a romantic history. It was built by Chinese labor in 1881 to a gold mine east of the park, but as the mine did not pay the expenses of getting out the ore it was quickly abandoned and soon became impassable. In 1915 a group of public-spirited citizens, headed by the Honorable Stephen T. Mather, purchased it from the present owners of the old mining property and presented it to the Government. When a young man, Mark Twain visited Mono Lake on the Tioga Road. Following is his own inimitable description from Roughing It:

Mono Lake is a hundred miles in a straight line from the ocean—and between it and the ocean are one or two ranges of mountains—yet thousands of sea gulls go there every season to lay their eggs and rear their young. One would as soon expect to find sea gulls in Kansas. And in this connection let us observe another instance of nature’s wisdom. The islands in the lake being merely huge masses of lava, coated over with ashes and pumice stone, and utterly innocent of vegetation or anything that would burn; and sea gulls’ eggs being entirely useless to anyone unless they be cooked, nature has provided an unfailing spring of boiling water on the largest island, and you can put your eggs in there, and in 4 minutes you can boil them as hard as any statement I have made during the past 15 years. Within 10 feet of the boiling spring is a spring of pure, cold water, sweet and wholesome. So in that island you get your board and washing free of charge—and if nature had gone farther and furnished a nice American hotel clerk, who was crusty and disobliging, and didn’t know anything about the time-tables, or the railroad routes—or—anything—and was proud of it—I would not wish for a more desirable boarding house.

BY RAILROAD AND AUTO STAGE

Merced is the most popular railway and stage gateway to the park and is served by the Southern Pacific Railway, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, and stage lines.

At Merced, direct connections are made throughout the year with daily trains of the Yosemite Valley Railroad to El Portal, at which place passengers are transferred to stages on the last 14 miles to Yosemite Valley. In summer, through overnight sleeper cars from San Francisco and Los Angeles are available for train passengers daily. For information regarding schedules, rates, etc., visit your nearest ticket office or write to the passenger traffic manager of the Southern Pacific Lines, San Francisco, Calif., the Santa Fe Lines, Chicago, Ill., or the Yosemite Valley Railroad, Merced, Calif.

Automobile stages from Merced to Yosemite Valley are operated every day of the year. In summer, stages leave Fresno and Stockton for Yosemite Valley, the service being available daily from about June 1 to September 1. From July 4 to September 3, stages connect Yosemite Valley and Lake Tahoe with daily service via the Tioga Road. For information and rates, apply to the Yosemite Transportation System, Yosemite National Park, Calif.

BY AIRPLANE

For persons desiring to spend less time en route to the park, fast air service is available to Fresno, Calif. This is furnished by the United Air Lines on their Seattle to San Diego route, which connects with their transcontinental planes at Oakland and those of the American Airlines and TWA at Los Angeles.

23

ADMINISTRATION

The representative of the National Park Service in immediate charge of Yosemite National Park is the superintendent, C. G. Thomson, whose office is located in the Administration Building in the Yosemite New Village and whose address is Yosemite National Park, Calif. General information may be obtained from him, and all complaints should be addressed to him. A staff of employees, including rangers and ranger-naturalists, assists the superintendent in serving the public.

Exclusive jurisdiction over Yosemite National Park was ceded to the United States by act of the California Legislature, dated April 15, 1919, and accepted by Congress by act approved June 2, 1920 (41 Stat. 731).

INFORMATION BUREAU

The National Park Service maintains an information bureau at the superintendent’s office in Yosemite New Village, and the ranger in charge will supply accurate information concerning points of interest, trails, camping facilities, camping locations, fishing places, etc.

A branch office of the California State Automobile Association is maintained in conjunction with the Park Service Information Bureau, where the best road information obtainable is furnished free to autoists.

Information can also be obtained at the museum or at any of the hotels, camps, lodges, or garages, and at the transportation offices.

FREE EDUCATIONAL SERVICE

Constant improvement of the roads makes Yosemite more and more readily accessible. Every class of accommodation is provided for the comfort of the tourist. But the National Park Service has carried the idea of service to a still higher point in providing a free nature-guide service. In other words, the visitor is encouraged to avail himself of the offices of an interpreter in the form of a trained ranger-naturalist who can answer his questions and reveal the many fascinations of nature which abound on every side. To enjoy fully a national-park trip, one must learn to read the trails.

During the summer season a splendid program of lectures and nature-guide service is offered to visitors. One should plan to take advantage of the lectures and trips listed below which are available only during the long summer season. During winter months the modified program consists mainly of lectures at the hotels and the museum. The more the visitor knows about the park and its wildlife the more he will enjoy his stay. This service is maintained by the Government and is free to the public.

24

Nature walks from Camp Curry each morning (except Sunday).

Special bird walks at 8 o’clock each Wednesday morning.

Auto caravans each day at 9:30 a. m. and 2 p. m. (except Sunday) to points of special interest on the floor of the Valley. These start from museum, visitors using their own cars.

Each day (except Sunday) there is an all-day hike to Glacier Point, Vernal and Nevada Falls, Eagle Peak, Tenaya Canyon, or Half Dome.

At the evening camp-fire program at Government Camp No. 14, Camp Curry, Yosemite Lodge, and the Ahwahnee Hotel there are short talks on wildlife.

Short talks on the geology of Yosemite Valley are given several times each morning and afternoon in the museum.

Each week a naturalist leads a party on a 7-day hike into the spectacular high mountain region of the park, starting from Happy Isles at 7:30 o’clock each Monday morning. Make reservations in advance at the museum.

A junior nature school for children is conducted during the summer.

The bears are fed every evening at 9:30 o’clock at the bear pits, and a short talk is given on animal life of the Yosemite.

Groups or organizations may procure the services of a naturalist by applying to the park naturalist at the museum.

MUSEUM

The park museum, in New Village, a gift to the Nation from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, is a spacious and appropriately designed building in which are housed a large number of exhibits loaned or contributed by park enthusiasts.

These exhibits are appropriately displayed in rooms devoted to the following major fields: Geology, birds and animals, Indian history, trees, and flowers.

The museum grounds have recently been beautified by plantings of native wild flowers and shrubs, a project made possible by a gift from Marjorie Montgomery Ward. Flower lovers will find this garden a great aid in identifying flowers that they have seen along the roads and trails.

An Indian exhibit is conducted back of the museum daily during the summer by inhabitants of the local Indian village.

The museum also contains a library well supplied with scientific and historical books and periodicals, all of which are available to visitors.

Naturalists at the museum are at the service of the public to answer questions and to instruct regarding the park and its wildlife.

25

In late spring azaleas grow in profusion in Yosemite Valley.

26

YOSEMITE FIELD SCHOOL OF NATURAL HISTORY

A 7 weeks’ course in field study of Sierra Nevada natural history is offered by the Yosemite educational staff to students who have completed at least 2 years of college work. Emphasis is placed upon field methods, and the course is designed to avoid duplication of work offered in universities and colleges.

RANGER-NATURALIST OUTPOST

The development of the park areas above the rim has inevitably brought with it the establishment of branch-museum and ranger-naturalist service at several focal points of interest.

The Glacier Point Lookout is located on the most famed scenic point on the rim. Powerful binoculars enable visitors to bring the Sierra’s great peaks to their very feet. A flower show is maintained, and a ranger-naturalist on duty conducts a service of field trips and lectures which correlate with those offered from the Yosemite Museum.

At Mariposa Grove the old log cabin originally built by Galen Clark and replaced by the State in 1885 has been reconstructed. This is now equipped as a museum telling the complete story of the Big Trees. A ranger-naturalist is stationed here to lecture, make guide trips to famous trees, sell publications, and give accurate information.

At Tuolumne Meadows a ranger-naturalist is stationed during July and August to conduct field trips, organize more strenuous mountain-climbing expeditions, keep up an exhibit of local interest, and lecture at evening camp fires.

Guide maps, and topographical maps may be obtained from the ranger-naturalists, who will be glad to assist visitors desiring to know more about the park.

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR VISITORS

Accommodations in Yosemite National Park offer a complete range from free public camp grounds to the highest class of hotel service. At all units except housekeeping there is a discount of 10 percent from the basic rates for stays of 3 days or longer and an additional discount for weekly stays.

FREE PUBLIC CAMP GROUNDS

The National Park Service maintains extensive camp grounds in Yosemite Valley and at Glacier Point, Mariposa Grove, and Tuolumne Meadows, for the use of which no charge is made. These areas are provided with necessary sanitary conveniences and for the most part with running 27 water. The grounds are policed daily during the camping season and all litter and waste removed.

A camp-fire entertainment is held each summer evening (except Sunday) at a platform centrally located in Camp 14. Please report any talent among the campers to the ranger at entrance to Camp 14.

The public is requested to cooperate with the park force in keeping the camp grounds clean and presentable.

Campers must register their name, address, car make and number, length of stay and location in camp ground (post and section number) on the registration book at entrance to each camp ground. This is important in case of emergency messages.

HOTELS, LODGES, HOUSEKEEPING CABINS, AND CAMPS

The following list of accommodations is a brief summary of rooms, cabins, and tents available in Yosemite. These are operated by the Yosemite Park and Curry Co., which is under contract with the Government to supply these services and accommodations in the park. For reservations and information apply to the Yosemite Park and Curry Co., at Yosemite National Park, Calif., or at 39 Geary Street, San Francisco, Calif., and 540 West Sixth Street, Los Angeles, Calif.

Important Notice.—The closing of schools in California always brings a rush of visitors to the park immediately after June 15 and from that date to July 25 prospective visitors to the park (except those contemplating camping with their own outfits in the free public camping grounds) should in all cases apply in advance for reservations. Advance reservations for the period between December 28 and January 1 will not be made for less than 4 days.

Rates authorized herein are subject to change without notice on approval by the Director of the National Park Service. Authorized changes in rates will be posted for public information in the park.

All the rates of the authorized public utilities within the park are approved by the Government. Employees of the hotels, camps, and transportation lines are not Government employees, they are employed by the Yosemite Park and Curry Co.

Any suggestions regarding service furnished by these public utilities should be made to the superintendent.

The Ahwahnee.—In Yosemite Valley. American plan. Open all year. Commanding all major Yosemite Valley views, The Ahwahnee is one of the most distinctive resort hotels. Complete informality prevails. All rooms have outside view and private bath. The spacious grounds 28 include a native wildflower garden, a mashie golf course alongside the Merced River, tennis courts, archery, badminton, children’s playground. Basic rates, including meals, are $10 and $12 per person daily.

The Ahwahnee offers fine living in a favored setting.

Camp Curry.—In Yosemite Valley. American and European plan. Open approximately May to September. Camp Curry is a complete community center. Accommodations are in bungalows with bath, cabins without bath, and completely furnished tents. The dining room seats 700 guests; the cafeteria 350. European plan, in tents only, $1.50 to $2.50 per person daily; American plan, $4 to $8.50 per person daily—less discounts.

Yosemite Lodge.—In Yosemite Valley. European plan. Open all year. A colony of redwood cabins with and without bath set among pines and cedars near the Merced River. The main building has an excellent cafeteria. Rates, $2.25 to $5 per person daily—less discounts.

Glacier Point Hotel.—On the Valley rim. European plan. Open approximately June to September. The main building has accommodations for 150 guests in rooms with or without bath and meals are served in the cafeteria. (During winter months when Glacier Point is accessible only by trail, the Annex is available as a headquarters for skiing parties.) Rates, $2 to $5 per person daily—less discounts.

29

Wawona Hotel.—Twenty-seven miles from Yosemite Valley, near the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees. American and European plans. Open approximately May to October. A charming vacation place with one of the finest mountain golf courses in the West; headquarters for fishing and camping trips. Rates, $1.25 to $4.50 per person daily, European plan; $4.25 to $9 American plan—less discounts.

Big Trees Lodge.—In the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees, 35 miles from Yosemite Valley. European plan. Open approximately June to September. A new building of unusual charm and comfort with accommodations for 24 guests. Four bedrooms have private bath; all have hot and cold running water. The cafeteria has an outdoor terrace. Rates, $2.50 to $5 per person daily—less discounts.

Tuolumne Meadows Lodge.—On Tioga Pass Road in the heart of Yosemite Park, 68 miles from Yosemite Valley. American plan. Open approximately July to September. A trail and fishing center and headquarters for pack trip parties. Accommodations are in canvas cabins with lounge and dining room in central canvas building. Rates, $5 and $6 per person daily—less discounts.

High Sierra Camps.—An average of about 10 miles apart along High Sierra trails. Comfortable, camp-style accommodations for saddle and hiking parties. Open approximately July and August. Basic rates are $1 a night and $1 a meal.

Housekeeping Cabins.—At Yosemite Lodge, open all year.

Completely furnished | Daily, 1 or 2 days | Daily, 3 or more days | Per week
One person in cabin | $3 | $2.25 | $14
Each additional person | 1 | .75 | 4

Additional charge for wood is 50 cents per bundle. Cabins are furnished with wood stoves, complete housekeeping equipment including bedding linen, cooking utensils, and silverware. Electrically lighted cabins.

Housekeeping Cabins and Tents, partially furnished (with cots, mattresses, tables, chairs, and stove).

Cabins or tent with floor: | Per day
For 1 or 2 persons | $1.50
For each additional person | .25
Extra equipment:
Blankets | .25
Linen and pillows | .25
Cooking and table equipment | .25
A charge of 50 cents per bundle is made for wood.

30

All kinds of camping equipment are available for rental to all campers; ask for rental price list.

Yosemite Housekeeping Camp.—Open May 7 until September 5.

Regular outfits, comprising tents fully furnished except for linen (sheets, pillow slips, and towels) are available at the following rates, by the week only:

| 1 person | 2 persons | Each additional person
Tent with floor:
First week | $8.50 | $11.50 | $2.00
Each succeeding week | 6.00 | 8.50 | 1.50
Tent with floor and fly: | | |
First week | | 12.50 | 2.00
Each succeeding week | | 9.00 | 1.50
Linen may be rented extra.

Camp Curry Housekeeping Section.—A section of Camp Curry is devoted to tents arranged and equipped for housekeeping. The tents are permanently erected on frames with board floors and electric lights. A tent fly or awning stretched in front of the sleeping tent makes a combination outdoor living room, dining room, and kitchen.

Bed linen and one dozen assorted towels, together with laundering of the same, is included in rental.

| 1 person | 2 persons | Each additional person
First week | $10.50 | $17 | $3.50
Each succeeding week | 8.50 | 15 | 3.00

YOSEMITE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

The Yosemite Transportation System, of the Yosemite Park & Curry Co., operates automobile transportation service connecting with railroad and stage lines at Merced, Fresno, Tahoe, and El Portal, and covering all points of interest reached by automobile roads in Yosemite National Park, and between Yosemite Valley and Lake Tahoe by way of the “Tioga Pass route.”

For rates, time schedules, and reservations apply at Camp Curry, The Ahwahnee, or Yosemite Lodge transportation offices.

31

STAGE TRIPS

Merced to Yosemite Valley, $7.25 one way; $10.25 round trip. Yosemite Valley to Tuolumne Meadows, $7.50 one way. Yosemite Valley to Lake Tahoe, $25 one way.

Mirror Lake.—A short drive to view the reflections, 50 cents.

See the Bears.—A short drive in the evening to see Yosemite’s bears feeding under a spotlight, 50 cents.

Valley tour.—A 2-hour, 20-mile drive with lecturing escort passing all points of interest on the Valley floor. Leaves daily, $2.

Glacier Point.—A round trip to Glacier Point on the rim of the Valley, from which a superb panorama of the Valley and the High Sierra is obtained (1 day), $5.

Mariposa Grove of Big Trees.—A memorable 1-day motor trip to this large grove which has many trees whose age has been estimated at 4,000 years. The Y. T. S. stage drives through the famous Wawona tunnel tree, $7.50.

Big Trees and Glacier Point.—Combining both the above trips with overnight stop at comfortable Glacier Point Hotel, $11.

Hetch Hetchy Dam and Valley.—A delightful 1-day trip to San Francisco’s gigantic water-supply project in the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River, via Tuolumne Grove of Big Trees and interesting High Sierra country. Take box lunch, $7.50.

1-DAY SADDLE TRIPS

Points of interest | Elevation above Valley | Miles, round trip | Description (distances are from and to foot of trails) | Rate per person
Glacier Point | 3,254 | 13 | Via Vernal and Nevada Falls, offering superb view of Valley and High Sierra | $5
Eagle Peak | 3,813 | 12 | Past top of Yosemite Fall, through mountain meadows and interesting High Sierra country | 5
Half Dome | 4,892 | 16 | Via Vernal and Nevada Falls to most interesting peak in the Valley. The dome may be climbed. Wear tennis shoes | 5
Clouds’ Rest | 5,964 | 20 | The highest peak visible from the Valley affords fine views | 5
North Dome | 3,561 | 20 | Past top of Yosemite Fall, Yosemite Point, Tenaya Zigzags | 5
Vernal Fall (top) | 1,084 | 5 | A delightful half-day trip | 3
Yosemite Fall | 1,135 | 4 | Another favorite half-day short ride to the base of the upper Fall | 3

32

3- AND 6-DAY SADDLE TRIPS

All-expense saddle trips (including saddle animal, guide meals, lodging, box lunches) to High Sierra camps start at $19.50. For full information, see “High Sierra Vacations” folder.

The 6-day High Sierra all-expense saddle trip leaves Valley every Monday morning during the season regardless of number in party and any day when a minimum party of five secures free guide service.

Pack Trip.—Ask for rates and “High Sierra Vacations” folder. Saddle and pack horses may be rented at Tuolumne Meadows, Mather, Wawona, and in Yosemite Valley.

VALLEY FLOOR RIDES

Yosemite.—Twenty-five miles of oiled bridle paths. Guide not necessary. Rates, half day. Forenoon, $2.50; afternoon, $2; full day, $4.

Wawona.—Trails on floor of Wawona Valley. Guide not necessary. Rates, half day, $2; full day, $3.

STORES AND NEWS STANDS

A general store and meat market is operated in the old Yosemite Village by the Yosemite Park & Curry Co. In this general store a complete line of groceries, meats, clothing, drugs, and campers’ supplies of all kinds is available. This company also operates a store at Wawona and at Tuolumne Meadows, where food supplies are sold in summer.

At Camp Curry there is a grocery and provision store, where a full line of groceries, meats, food supplies, and fishing tackle is carried during the summer season.

Mrs. John Degnan operates a grocery store, bakery, delicatessen, lunch room, and soda fountain in the old Yosemite Village. Soda fountains are also operated at Yosemite Lodge, Camp Curry, and the Ahwahnee Hotel. Refreshment stands are maintained at the general store, housekeeping headquarters, and Happy Isles. Meals and light lunches are served during the summer at the village store.

In all of the hotels, lodges, and camps there are newsstands at which curios, post cards, photographs, souvenirs, newspapers, magazines, tobacco, smokers’ supplies, etc., are available.

PHOTOGRAPHIC SERVICE

A wide and attractive selection of Yosemite views is to be found in the studios of the following four park operators:

33

Best Studio, located in the New Village, is open the year round and offers complete photographic developing and printing service, in addition to a choice of Yosemite views, and a large supply of small moving-picture film and equipment. H. C. Best is an artist of note and welcomes visitors to his gallery to inspect his paintings of Yosemite.

Boysen Studio is situated in the New Village and is open throughout the year. J. T. Boysen, the proprietor, is one of the pioneer photographers of Yosemite and displays a splendid collection of park pictures, in addition to developing and printing visitors’ films.

Foley’s Studio is located in the New Village. D. J. Foley, the proprietor, was one of the first photographers to establish in the park. He has an excellent selection of Yosemite views for sale, both colored and uncolored. This studio also does developing and printing.

Yosemite Park & Curry Co. maintains studios in the New Village, Camp Curry, Yosemite Lodge, Glacier Point, the Ahwahnee Hotel, general store, and Big Trees Lodge. Photographic supplies can also be purchased at the various other units of the Yosemite Park & Curry Co. Their studios also display a choice collection of the water-color paintings of the noted Swedish artist, Gunnar Widforss, in addition to photographic studies by several well-known photographers. All of the Yosemite Park & Curry Co. branches carry the small moving-picture film and the studios have a complete supply of 16-millimeter equipment.

LAUNDRIES

Adequate laundry and cleaning and pressing facilities are available to all in Yosemite. Convenient points for pick-up and delivery of laundry are to be found at Camp Curry, Yosemite Lodge, the Ahwahnee, the general store in the Old Village, and the Yosemite housekeeping headquarters.

BARBER SHOPS

Barber shops are operated in the Old Village, Camp Curry, Yosemite Lodge, and the Ahwahnee. Beauty parlors are operated at Camp Curry, Yosemite Lodge, and the Ahwahnee during the summer season.

GARAGE SERVICE

The Yosemite Park & Curry Co. operates a storage garage and a completely equipped repair shop with modern machinery and skilled mechanics at Camp Curry in summer and the Yosemite Transportation System garage throughout the remainder of the year. A stock of standard automobile parts and accessories, tires, tubes, etc., is carried at this garage.

34

Gasoline and oil stations are located at Camp Curry, Yosemite Lodge, at the Yosemite Transportation System garage near the Yosemite housekeeping headquarters, at Chinquapin and Wawona on the Wawona Road, and at Carl Inn, Aspen Valley, White Wolf, and Tuolumne Meadows on the Tioga Road.

CHILDREN’S PLAYGROUND

A playground for children is maintained at Camp Curry. It is equipped with swings, slides, sand piles, and the like, and is supervised by a competent attendant trained in kindergarten and playground work. Children may be left in her charge during the absence of parents on sight-seeing trips or hikes.

Deer find refuge in the park.

POSTAL SERVICE

The main post office is in the Yosemite New Village and the postal address is “Yosemite National Park, Calif.” Branch post offices are maintained during the summer season at Camp Curry and Yosemite Lodge and these branch post offices bear the names of these places. Mail for 35 guests of Camp Curry should be addressed to “Camp Curry, Calif.” Mail for guests of hotels or lodges of the Yosemite Park & Curry Co., other than above, should be addressed care of resort at which the guest is staying.

During the summer season a branch post office is maintained at Wawona and Tuolumne Meadows to handle first, second, and third class matter. All mail for Tuolumne Meadows should be so marked and sent to Yosemite, Calif. Mail for Wawona should be addressed to Wawona, Calif.

EXPRESS SERVICE

Express service is available in the general store, Old Yosemite Village, and packages should be addressed “Care of Yosemite National Park, Calif., via El Portal.”

TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH SERVICE

Local and long-distance telephone and telegraph service is maintained at the Administration Building in the New Village and at branch offices maintained at The Ahwahnee, Camp Curry, and Yosemite Lodge. Telephonic communications may be had to all interior hotels, camps, and lodges, and long-distance and telegraph messages may be sent from interior points and delivered by telephone to such points. Money transfers are handled at the main office in the Administration Building.

MEDICAL AND HOSPITAL SERVICE

The Government owns, and operates under contract, a modern hospital building in Yosemite Valley, where medical, surgical, and dental services are provided. A competent medical staff with attendant nurses is in charge, and will also promptly attend patients at any place within the park.

The hospital is well equipped with X-ray and other apparatus for diagnosis and treatment, and an ambulance service is provided for emergencies. Prices and character of service are regulated by the Government.

CHURCH SERVICES

Both Protestant and Catholic Church services are conducted each Sunday during the summer season. Resident representatives of both faiths conduct the services, and speakers of State or national prominence are often in the pulpit. Bulletins are issued giving hours and locations of services.

An incorporation known as the Yosemite National Church, on whose board of directors sit representatives of the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, has for its purpose to erect and maintain an appropriate interdenominational chapel.

36

REFERENCES

The following list of references will be found helpful. Most of them are available at the museum nature library.

Badé, William F. Life and Letters of John Muir, 2 volumes. 1923 and 1924. Houghton, Mifflin Co.

Brewer, William H. Up and Down California in 1860-64. Yale University Press, 1930.

Bunnell, Lafayette Houghton. Discovery of the Yosemite; and the Indian War of 1851. 349 pp. Historical and descriptive.

Chase, J. S. Yosemite Trails; Camp and Pack Train in the Yosemite Region of the Sierra Nevada. 1911. 354 pp., illustrated.

Clark, Galen. Indians of the Yosemite Valley. 1904. 110 pp., illustrated.

—— The Yosemite Valley. 1910. 108 pp. General description and notes on flora.

—— The Big Trees of California. 1907. 104 pp., illustrated.

Foley, D. J. Yosemite Souvenir and Guide. 1911. 133 pp.

Frothingham, Robert. Trails Through the Golden West, Robert M. McBride & Co., New York. 272 pp.

Gordon-Cumming, C. F. Granite Crags. 1884. 373 pp., illustrated.

Hittell, Theo. H. The Adventures of James Capan Adams, Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California. 373 pp., illustrated. Chas. Scribner’s Sons.

Hutchings, J. M. In the Heart of the Sierras. 1886. 496 pp., illustrated. Historical and descriptive.

Jepson, W. L. The Silva of California: Memoirs of the University of California, vol. 2, 1910. 480 pp., illustrated.

—— The Trees of California. 1923. 240 pp., illustrated.

Kelley, Edgemond, and Chick. Three Scout Naturalists in the National Parks. Brewer, Warren & Putnam. 1931.

King, Clarence. Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada.

Kneeland, Samuel. The Wonders of the Yosemite Valley. Boston. 1871-72.

LeConte, Jos. A Journal of Rambling Through the High Sierra of California—1870. Sierra Club, 1930.

Merriam, C. Hart. The Dawn of the World. Tales of the Mewan Indians of California. 273 pp., plates, map, and colored frontispiece. 1910.

Mills, Enos A. Your National Parks. 532 pp., illustrated. Houghton, Mifflin Co., 1917. Yosemite on pp. 65-98; 444-454.

Muir, John. The Mountains of California, 1894. 382 pp., illustrated.

—— Our National Parks. 1909. 382 pp., illustrated. Yosemite on pp. 76-267; Sequoia and General Grant on pp. 268-330; Yellowstone on pp. 37-75; Wild Parks of the West, pp. 1-36.

—— My First Summer in the Sierra. 1911. 354 pp. Descriptive of Yosemite and Tuolumne region.

—— The Yosemite. 1912. 284 pp., illustrated.

—— Steep Trails. Houghton, Mifflin Co., 1918.

Sierra Club Bulletin. Published by the Sierra Club, San Francisco.

Smith, Bertha H. Yosemite Legends. 1904. 64 pp.

Whitney, Josiah Dwight. The Yosemite Guide Book. Published by the California State Geological Survey. 1869, 1870, 1872, 1874.

Williams, John H. Yosemite and its High Sierra. 1921. 194 pp.

Yard, Robert Sterling. The Top of the Continent. 1917. 244 pp., illustrated. Yosemite on pp. 161-187.

—— The Book of the National Parks. 1926. 444 pp., 74 illustrations, 14 maps and diagrams. Yosemite on pp. 36-68.

37

PUBLICATIONS FOR SALE AT MUSEUM

The following publications are in such popular demand by park visitors for reference that they have been placed on sale at the Yosemite Museum, through the cooperation of the Yosemite Natural History Association.

Animal Life in Yosemite, Grinnell, Joseph, and Storer, Tracy I. An account of the mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in a cross section of the Sierra Nevada. University of California Press, Berkeley, Calif. 1924. Illustrated. Price, $5.

A Yosemite Flora, 1912. Hall, H. M. and C. C. 282 pages. A descriptive account of the ferns and flowering plants, including the trees, with keys for identification. Price, $2.

Big Trees, Fry, Walter, and White, John R. A descriptive account of the Big Trees of California. 1930. Illustrated. Price, $1.

Birds of the Pacific States, Hoffmann, Ralph. Field identification of some 400 birds. Illustrated. 1927. Price, $5.

Birds of Yosemite Valley. Description of 37 common nesting birds. Special number Yosemite Nature Notes. Price, $0.25.

Flowers of Coast and Sierra, Clements, Edith S. With 32 plates in color. Descriptions of flowers and plant families for average nature lover. 1928. 226 pp. Price, $3.

Forests of Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant National Parks, Price, $0.10

Geologic History of Yosemite Valley, Matthes, Francois E.

Geological Survey Map of Yosemite National Park. Price, 25 cents.

Geological Survey Map of Yosemite Valley. Price, 10 cents.

Handbook of Yosemite, Hall, Ansel F. A compendium of articles on history, geology, flora, fauna, etc., by scientific authorities. Illustrated. 1921. 347 pp. Price, $1.25.

Lights and Shadows of Yosemite, Taylor, Katherine Ames. San Francisco. 1926. Price, $1.50.

National Parks Portfolio, cloth bound with more than 300 fine illustrations of the national parks. Price, $1.50.

“Oh, Ranger!” Albright, Horace M., and Taylor, Frank J. A book about the national parks. Price, $2.

100 Years in Yosemite, Russell, Carl P. Price, $3.50.

Our National Parks, John Muir. 1909. 382 pp. Illustrated. Yosemite on pp. 76-267; Sequoia and General Grant on pp. 268-330; Yellowstone on pp. 37-75; Wild Parks of the West, pp. 1-36. Price, $3.50.

Outdoor Heritage, Bryant, Harold Child. Covers many phases of natural history of California. Chapters on Yosemite. 465 pp., illustrated. 1929. Price, $1.75.

Place Names of the High Sierra, Farquhar, Francis P. A record of the origin and significance of names in the Yosemite region, especially Sierra Club. 1926. 128 pp. Price, $2.

Rambling Through the High Sierra, LeConte, Jos. Price, $2.

Songs of Yosemite, Symmes, Harold, with paintings by Gunnar Widforss. Twelve poems in unique binding. 1923. 44 pp. Price, $1.

Yosemite Trip Book, Taylor, Frank J. 61 pp., illustrated. H. S. Crocker Co. (Inc.), San Francisco, 1927. Price, $0.50.

Yosemite Valley, an Intimate Guide, Hall, Ansel F. Account of history, Indians, geology, tours to points of special interest. 80 pp., illustrated. Price, $0.50.

Yosemite Nature Notes, published monthly by Yosemite National Park. Observations and happenings in Yosemite National Park. Distributed monthly to members of Yosemite Natural History Association. Membership, $1.

38

MAP OF YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
High-resolution Map

40

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

Glimpses of Our National Parks. An illustrated booklet of 92 pages. Address the Director, National Park Service. Washington, D. C. Free.

Recreational Map. Shows both Federal and State reservations with recreational opportunities throughout the United States. Brief descriptions of principal ones. Director, National Park Service, Washington, D. C. Free.

National Parks Portfolio. By Robert Sterling Yard. Cloth bound and illustrated with more than 300 beautiful photographs of the national parks. Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. $1.50 Do not send stamps.

Fauna of the National Parks. G. M. Wright, J. S. Dixon, and B. H. Thompson. Survey of wildlife conditions in the national parks. 157 pages, illustrated. Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. 20 cents.

The Secret of the Big Trees. By Ellsworth Huntington. Illustrated; 24 pages. Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. 5 cents.

Forests of Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant National Parks. By C. L. Hill. Illustrated; 40 pages. 10 cents.

Map of Yosemite National Park. 28½ by 27 inches, scale 2 miles to the inch. U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. 25 cents.

Map of Yosemite Valley. 35 by 15½ inches, scale 2,000 feet to the inch. U. S. Geological Survey. 10 cents.

Booklets about the national parks listed below may be obtained free of charge by writing the Director, National Park Service, Washington, D. C.

Acadia National Park, Maine.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, N. Mex.

Crater Lake National Park, Oreg.

General Grant National Park, Calif.

Glacier National Park, Mont.

Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz.

Grand Teton National Park, Wyo.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, N. C.—Tenn.

Hawaii National Park, Hawaii.

Hot Springs National Park, Ark.

Lassen Volcanic National Park, Calif.

Mesa Verde National Park, Colo.

Mount McKinley National Park, Alaska.

Mount Rainier National Park, Wash.

Platt National Park, Okla.

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colo.

Sequoia National Park, Calif.

Wind Cave National Park, S. Dak.

Yellowstone National Park, Wyo.—Mont.—Idaho.

Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, Utah.

41

LOCATIONS OF 24 NATIONAL PARKS, 1 NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, 11 NATIONAL MILITARY PARKS, 68 NATIONAL MONUMENTS, 10 BATTLEFIELD SITES, 11 NATIONAL CEMETERIES, AND 4 MISCELLANEOUS MEMORIALS ADMINISTERED BY THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.
High-resolution Map

Transcriber’s Note

- Apparent typographical errors were corrected.

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided that:

- • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.”

- • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.

- • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.

- • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™

Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.

back

back

back

Table of Contents

- YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK CALIFORNIA

- WELCOME TO YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

- RULES AND REGULATIONS (Briefed)

- CONTENTS

- IMPORTANT EVENTS IN YOSEMITE’S HISTORY

- WHAT TO DO AND SEE IN YOSEMITE

- GENERAL

- 1-DAY MOTOR TRIPS

- 1-DAY HIKES FROM VALLEY—DISTANCES GIVEN ONE WAY

- THE YOSEMITE VALLEY

- HOW THE VALLEY WAS FORMED
- WATERFALLS
- HEIGHT OF WATERFALLS

- GLACIER POINT AND THE RIM OF YOSEMITE VALLEY

- ALTITUDE OF SUMMITS INCLOSING YOSEMITE VALLEY

- THE BIG TREES
- THE WAWONA BASIN
- HETCH HETCHY VALLEY
- TUOLUMNE MEADOWS
- PATE VALLEY
- THE NORTHERN CANYONS
- THE MOUNTAIN CLIMAX OF THE SIERRA
- MERCED AND WASHBURN LAKES
- CLIMATE AND SEASONS
- WINTER SPORTS
- TRAILS AND HIKES
- FISHING
- HOW TO REACH THE PARK
- ADMINISTRATION
- INFORMATION BUREAU

- FREE EDUCATIONAL SERVICE

- MUSEUM
- YOSEMITE FIELD SCHOOL OF NATURAL HISTORY
- RANGER-NATURALIST OUTPOST

- ACCOMMODATIONS FOR VISITORS

- FREE PUBLIC CAMP GROUNDS

- HOTELS, LODGES, HOUSEKEEPING CABINS, AND CAMPS

- YOSEMITE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
- STAGE TRIPS
- 1-DAY SADDLE TRIPS
- 3- AND 6-DAY SADDLE TRIPS
- VALLEY FLOOR RIDES
- STORES AND NEWS STANDS
- PHOTOGRAPHIC SERVICE
- LAUNDRIES
- BARBER SHOPS
- GARAGE SERVICE
- CHILDREN’S PLAYGROUND
- POSTAL SERVICE
- EXPRESS SERVICE
- TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH SERVICE
- MEDICAL AND HOSPITAL SERVICE
- CHURCH SERVICES

- REFERENCES
- PUBLICATIONS FOR SALE AT MUSEUM
- GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
- Transcriber’s Note
- THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE