Audio Tour
Yosemite Valley
15stops
Listen — all 15 stops free
1
Lower Yosemite Fall Up Close
Lower Yosemite Fall
Yosemite Falls drops seven hundred thirty-nine metres in three sections, making it the tallest waterfall in North America and among the top ten worldwide.
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2
El Capitan Is One Single Rock
El Capitan Meadow
El Capitan is the largest exposed granite monolith on Earth.
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3
Glaciers Carved This Valley's Shape
Valley View (Gates of the Valley)
The U-shaped profile of Yosemite Valley is visible from this viewpoint in a single sweep. Most river valleys are V-shaped, cut narrow and deep by flowing water.
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4
Pohono and the Spirit Wind
Bridalveil Fall
The Ahwahneechee people called this waterfall Pohono, meaning spirit of the puffing wind.
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5
Sentinel Rock's Vertical Granite Face
Sentinel Rock Viewpoint
Sentinel Rock rises about 910 metres above the valley floor, and its north face is nearly perfectly vertical.
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6
Cook's Meadow Restored from Ruin
Cook's Meadow Loop
By the early twentieth century, this meadow was nearly destroyed.
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7
Yosemite's Oldest Structure Still Standing
Yosemite Valley Chapel
This chapel dates to 1879, making it the oldest building still standing in Yosemite National Park.
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8
The Ahwahnee and Its Hidden Steel
The Ahwahnee Hotel
The Ahwahnee looks like it was built from massive timber beams and rough-cut granite, but most of what appears to be wood is actually poured concrete stained and…
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9
Ansel Adams and the Sierra Club Legacy
Ansel Adams Gallery
Ansel Adams first visited Yosemite in 1916 at age fourteen, carrying a Kodak Box Brownie camera his parents had given him. That trip defined his life's work.
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10
Where Park Management Took Root
Yosemite Valley Visitor Center
The Yosemite Village Historic District around you represents one of the earliest experiments in American national park administration.
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11
Merced River Shapes the Valley Floor
Merced River at Sentinel Bridge
The Merced River has been actively building the flat valley floor you're walking on. After glaciers carved Yosemite Valley, they left behind a lake.
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12
Camp Curry and the Seven Dollar Vacation
Curry Village
David and Jennie Curry opened this camp in 1899 with just seven tents and a bold pitch: a week in Yosemite for seven dollars.
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13
Where the Merced River Splits and Steepens
Happy Isles
The John Muir Trail, one of the most famous long-distance routes in North America, starts right here.
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14
Wahhoga Village and Ahwahnechee Resilience
Indian Village of Ahwahnee (Wahhoga)
The roundhouse structure near this site is the most significant element here.
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15
Mirror Lake Is Disappearing by Design
Mirror Lake
Mirror Lake is not really a lake anymore — it is a meadow in the making.
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Listen — all 15 stops free
1
Lower Yosemite Fall Up Close
Lower Yosemite Fall
Yosemite Falls drops seven hundred thirty-nine metres in three sections, making it the tallest waterfall in North America and among the top ten worldwide.
0:00
2
El Capitan Is One Single Rock
El Capitan Meadow
El Capitan is the largest exposed granite monolith on Earth.
0:00
3
Glaciers Carved This Valley's Shape
Valley View (Gates of the Valley)
The U-shaped profile of Yosemite Valley is visible from this viewpoint in a single sweep. Most river valleys are V-shaped, cut narrow and deep by flowing water.
0:00
4
Pohono and the Spirit Wind
Bridalveil Fall
The Ahwahneechee people called this waterfall Pohono, meaning spirit of the puffing wind.
0:00
5
Sentinel Rock's Vertical Granite Face
Sentinel Rock Viewpoint
Sentinel Rock rises about 910 metres above the valley floor, and its north face is nearly perfectly vertical.
0:00
6
Cook's Meadow Restored from Ruin
Cook's Meadow Loop
By the early twentieth century, this meadow was nearly destroyed.
0:00
7
Yosemite's Oldest Structure Still Standing
Yosemite Valley Chapel
This chapel dates to 1879, making it the oldest building still standing in Yosemite National Park.
0:00
8
The Ahwahnee and Its Hidden Steel
The Ahwahnee Hotel
The Ahwahnee looks like it was built from massive timber beams and rough-cut granite, but most of what appears to be wood is actually poured concrete stained and…
0:00
9
Ansel Adams and the Sierra Club Legacy
Ansel Adams Gallery
Ansel Adams first visited Yosemite in 1916 at age fourteen, carrying a Kodak Box Brownie camera his parents had given him. That trip defined his life's work.
0:00
10
Where Park Management Took Root
Yosemite Valley Visitor Center
The Yosemite Village Historic District around you represents one of the earliest experiments in American national park administration.
0:00
11
Merced River Shapes the Valley Floor
Merced River at Sentinel Bridge
The Merced River has been actively building the flat valley floor you're walking on. After glaciers carved Yosemite Valley, they left behind a lake.
0:00
12
Camp Curry and the Seven Dollar Vacation
Curry Village
David and Jennie Curry opened this camp in 1899 with just seven tents and a bold pitch: a week in Yosemite for seven dollars.
0:00
13
Where the Merced River Splits and Steepens
Happy Isles
The John Muir Trail, one of the most famous long-distance routes in North America, starts right here.
0:00
14
Wahhoga Village and Ahwahnechee Resilience
Indian Village of Ahwahnee (Wahhoga)
The roundhouse structure near this site is the most significant element here.
0:00
15
Mirror Lake Is Disappearing by Design
Mirror Lake
Mirror Lake is not really a lake anymore — it is a meadow in the making.
0:00