Yosemite National Park is home to some of the most well-known geographic formations in the world.

Located in the Sierra Nevada of California, Yosemite is about the size of Rhode Island, at nearly 1,200 square miles. Rivers, mountains, and iconic rock faces dot the landscape. Millions of people each year visit Yosemite Valley, the most accessible part of the park. Many others travel through the back country on any of several high country trails.

Thanks to the efforts of John Muir and others, Congress created the Yosemite National Park in 1890; further action by President Theodore Roosevelt covered most of the park in federal protection from settlement.

Famous sites in Yosemite National Park include these:

Click on each image below to see a larger version open in a new window.

El Capitan El Capitan is an instantly recognizable 3,000-foot-tall granite monolith that is a popular target for rock climbers.	Vernal Fall The water flows all year long down 317-foot-tall Vernal Fall, which park visitors can see up close by navigating the often slippery Mist Trail, at the top of which is the Emerald Pool, a favorite resting spot.	Bridalveil Falls The water flows all year long down 617-foot-tall Bridalveil Falls, which Ahwahneechee named Pohono, which means "Spirit of the Puffing Wind," because a strong wind will blow the water sideways.
Half Dome Half Dome rises more than 4,700 feet from the valley floor. Its name comes from its shape, the result of one sheer face and three smooth and round ones. It, too, is a popular destination for climbers. Cathedral Peak This peak stretches 10,916 feet into the sky. Its iconic shape was the result of glacial formation.	Yosemite Falls The most famous and largest of the falls in Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Falls stretches its water 2,425 feet from the top of the upper fall to the base of the lower fall.	Sentinel Dome Sentinel Dome is a more traditionally shaped dome that offers an expansive view of the other famous sites in the Valley and, at night, a clear view of the night sky. Sentinel Dome is easily accessed by hikers. A main point of reference for this dome for many years for a Jeffrey Pine that grew from the dome's peak (right). Photographs from as early as 1867 have featured this tree, as has a well-known photo by famed photographer Ansel Adams. A drought in 1976 killed the tree; it finally collapsed in 2003.
Mariposa Grove The stars of this show in this area are the venerable Giant Sequoia trees, which in this place alone exceed 500 in number.	Tuolumne Meadows Overlooking this large subalpine meadow are majestic peaks and domes, all of which can be viewed by traveling on the 47-mile-long Tioga Road–which, because of its location and altitude, is open for only a few months each year.	Hetch Hetchy Now a reservoir, it was a favorite of John Muir. Visitors can just imagine what it would like without the reservoir.

More of This Feature • The Early Development of Yosemite • John Muir • Galen Clark • 'Wild Child' Florence Hutchings • Early Entrepreneurs • Artists of Yosemite