Yosemite National Park stretches across California's Sierra Nevada mountain range to include two enormous canyons, alpine meadows, mountain peaks, sequoia trees, and beautiful waterfalls. The waterfalls are best in spring after the snow in the Sierras starts to melt off. The classic Yosemite experience is to drive up from the flat Central Valley through the oak-covered Sierra foothills to Tunnel View, where you get your first glimpse of Yosemite Valley, with waterfalls pouring off the top of the canyon and Half Dome catching the sun.

Coming up from the east side of the Sierra, the Tuolomne Meadows area provides a different side of Yosemite – alpine meadows at 8 to 10,000 feet. A nice day hike is to hike up to Mono Pass, with views of the salty Mono Lake in the desert below the Eastern Sierras.

The Hetch Hetchy reservoir area is the quiet side of Yosemite. The Hetch Hetchy valley once rivaled Yosemite Valley for beauty, but now it provides a clean water supply for the city of San Francisco.