Yosemite National Park lies in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. It covers three thousand square kilometres of mountain and valley. The highest point is Mt Lyell at almost 4000m, and the lowest is in Yosemite Valley at just 2000m above sea level.

Yosemite is one of the most visited parks in America, with nearly 4 million people coming each year. Yet of that huge area to explore, most people visit just eighteen square kilometres of the Yosemite Valley, which is where Yosemite Falls is located. Other features of the valley include the huge granite cliff called Half Dome and another called El Capitan.

All of these features have been produced as a result of deep valley scouring by glaciers during the Ice Age. Many surfaces in the higher park area are still bare, and have not yet regained a soil cover.

Yosemite was one of the earliest US National Parks and it was established in 1864.