Location: Tuolumne, Mariposa, & Madera Counties, California, USA
Nearest City: Mariposa
Nearest Commercial Airport: Fresno
Entrance Roads: Highway 140 from Mariposa, Highway 120 West from Big Oak Flat, Highway 120 East (Summer Only) from Lee Vining, Highway 41 from Oakhurst
Coordinates: 37°50′N 119°30′W / 37.833, -119.5
Area: 761,266 acres (3,081 km²)
Established: October 1, 1890
Visitors: 3,242,644 (in 2006)
Governing Body: National Park Service, a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior
Background
Yosemite National Park (pronounced yo-SEM-it-ee) is located in the eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California. The park covers an area of 761,266 acres or 1,189 square miles (3,081 km²) and encompasses a sections of the eastern and western slopes and the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Yosemite contains five major vegetation zones including: chaparral/oak woodland, lower montane, upper montane, subalpine, and alpine.
Each year over 3.5 million people visit Yosemite, many of whom only spend time in the seven square miles (18 km²) that comprise Yosemite Valley. The other 95% of the park, designated wilderness, receives less than 10% of park visitors each year.
Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs and monoliths, plunging waterfalls, crystal clear streams and rivers, and one of the largest living things on Earth, the Giant Sequoia.