Yosemite

   Yosemite National Park is an American national park in the state of California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The Park covers an area of 759,620 acres in four counties. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, lakes, mountains, meadows, glaciers, and biological diversity. Almost 95 percent of the park is designated Wilderness Area. Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals. The area was established as a national park on October 1, 1890.