Yosemite Wilderness

Almost 95 percent of Yosemite Park is designated as “wilderness area” by the United States Congress. An area preserved in stark contrast to the land populated and developed by man. Yosemite's wilderness is a region largely untouched and unchanged by man. A place of solitude and tranquility... without cars, without roads, without electricity or any of the other trappings of modern society.

Yosemite Meadows and Wetlands

Yosemite's meadows and wetlands are the agora of wildlife within Yosemite National Park. Here you will find a greater diversity of plants and animals than anywhere else inside the park. Yosemite's meadows and wetlands play a vital role for deer, bear, a variety rodents and birds and various other wildlife.

Park visitors will love Yosemite's meadows not only for their beauty and abundance of wildlife but because they offer some of the most stunning, wide-open views of the mountains, cliffs, and waterfalls that Yosemite is so famous for.

You'll find several meadows in Yosemite Valley, all of which have boardwalks or trails that are wheelchair accessible (and also great for bicyclists).

Four of the most popular are:

• Cook's Meadow, between Yosemite Village and Yosemite Lodge
• Sentinel Meadow (just west of the chapel)
• Stoneman Meadow (across the street from Half Dome Village)
• Leidig Meadow (west of Yosemite Lodge)