The US is of course a huge country containing 50 states in total and offering pretty much every sort of landscape that you could […]. Southern California is home to some of the best beaches in the US and is known for its beautiful, sunny climate year round which […]. Toggle navigation. According to a recent U. The range is growing by about a millimetre each year. The shape of the mountains are influenced by the shifting of tectonic plates beneath the surface of the Earth.
The Sierra Nevada stretches miles kilometres from Fredonyer Pass in the north, to Tehachapi Pass in the south. Over millions of years, erosion wore down the material covering the batholith. Though most of the batholith remains below the surface, the imposing, granitic peaks in the Sierra Nevada are an incredible display of the exposed portions of the batholith. The Sierra Nevada ecoregion contains an extraordinary range of habitat types and sustains many unusual plant and animal species.
The western and eastern Sierra Nevada have significantly different flora and fauna, because the east lies in the rain shadow of the crest. The southern Sierra contains the highest concentration of species and rare endemic species, but the eastern slope, west of the Owens River Valley, also contains many unusual plant species.
Six unique biotic zones exist in the western Sierra Nevada: The foothill woodlands and chaparral zone, lower montane forest, mid-montane Forest, upper-montane forest, subalpine forest, and alpine zone. Like the western Sierra, the eastern Sierra has alpine, subalpine forest, upper montane forest, and lower montane forest biotic zones. Each zone is defined by its climate and supports a number of interdependent species.
The northern and southern Sierra biotic zone elevations also vary, with the southern Sierra biotic zones beginning at higher elevations.
Lower elevation biotic zones, like the foothill woodland and chaparral zone in the western sierra and Pinyon-Juniper woodland zone in the eastern Sierra are characterized by non-native and mixed grasslands and single-leaf pinyon pines and sierra junipers, respectively.
Red fir and lodgepole pine generally thrive at higher elevations, while California black oak, sugar pine, white fir, ponderosa pine, and black oak dominate lower elevations. The montane forest gives way to the subalpine forest, a zone dominated by subalpine meadows, western white pine, mountain hemlock, and lodgepole pine.
During brief, warmer summer months, various flora, including cushion plants, willows, sedges, and grasses, are known to grow in the alpine zone. These giants only grow on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada between 4, and 8, feet 1, and 2, m in elevation. There are a number of famous groves in the Sierra that are located within Yosemite , Sequoia , and Kings Canyon national parks, as well as in Giant Sequoia National Monument. However, it would take two more decades for hunters and fur trappers from the United States to pass through the range.
Yosemite Valley was protected by the government in , though this came at the expense of the forced relocation of the Ahwahnechee who had lived in the valley since time immemorial. Type of area: National Park Area: 86, hectares Email: sierra.
Granada Andalusia : Aldeire. Visitor centre: El Dornajo. Laujar de Andarax visitor centre. Carretera de Laujar a Orgiva, Km. Gallery In images. Aerial views of the Sierra Nevada ski resort. Views of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Climbing to the top of Mount Mulhacen. Skiing at the Sierra Nevada resort. Useful information What you need to know. What to do Travel plans for inspiring you. To learn more about what this park has to offer, I refer you to our guide to Kings Canyon National Park in California.
While I am still on the subject, as you can see, sequoias abound in the western section of the Sierra Nevada. Near Sequoia National Park there is the Sequoia National Forest , a natural area that is wilder than the national park of the same name, and the Giant Sequoia National Monument , a protected area with the largest concentration of sequoias and the home of the Boole Tree, a sequoia that is ft wide.
However, these areas are much less frequented by tourists also because they are not as easy to visit and to be included in an itinerary. If you are on your first trip to California , it is very unlikely that will visit these 2 areas, since there are also the national parks mentioned above. The itinerary along the eastern ridge of the Sierra Nevada is marked by a sequence of natural wonders, a route framed by beautiful snow-capped peaks that allow you to admire some of the highest mountains in America, crystal clear lakes and extraordinary natural beauty created by volcanic activity.
In this area you will find 2 national monuments, the Devils Postpile National Monument , with its peculiar hexagon-shaped rocky pillars, and the Manzanar National Historic Site , the concentration camp where thousands of Japanese Americans were sent during World War II.
In addition to the two national monuments mentioned, this area has much more to offer, such as the surreal Mono Lake , with its striking tufa formations emerging above the surface, Bodie , one of the best preserved western towns in the United States, Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest , the forest with the oldest trees in the world, the rounded hills of Alabama Hills near Lone Pine which was used as a film set for many western movies or the many hot springs framed by the mountains for example, Hilltop Hot Springs.
For a full list, see my article about the Eastern Sierra. This area of the Sierra Nevada is crossed in order to travel from Yosemite to Death Valley , so if you plan to visit the two parks in your itinerary, you will definitely pass through it. In the northernmost part of Sierra Nevada , you will find the fourth national park in the mountain range, Lassen Volcanic National Park , the lesser-known park full of surprises where lava pools, calderas and fumaroles await you, creating a magnificent contrast with the clear blue lakes and the surrounding green conifer forests.
This national park is named after Lassen Peak , one of the largest domed volcanoes in the world. The road through the park allows you to visit the area effortlessly, but you have to pay attention to road closures, because Lassen Park Rd closes when the first snowfall of the season comes. I suggest you read carefully our guide on how to visit Lassen Volcanic National Park in order not to run into unpleasant surprises. Another gem on the northern side of the Sierra Nevada is Lake Tahoe , one of the most popular lakes in the United States.
0コメント