Yosemite

National Park · California

Park Stats

Area748,436 acres

Elevation1,087 – 3,358 m (AOI)

Established1890

DEMUSGS 3DEP 1m lidar

ProjectCA_YosemiteNP_2019

Acquired2019

Notable Features

El Capitan2,308 m
Half Dome2,693 m
Cathedral Peak3,326 m
Mt. Lyell3,997 m
Valley floor~1,200 m

Layer

Colored Hillshade

Elevation

Hillshade

Opacity 100%

About

Yosemite Valley is a textbook glacial U-trough — Pleistocene ice carved granite into the vertical walls you see today. El Capitan rises ~900 m from the valley floor in a single sheer face; Half Dome, the lopsided granite cap to its east, was sheared along an exfoliation joint by the same ice. The high country east of the valley climbs into the Sierra crest, topping out at Mt. Lyell just shy of 4,000 m.

Rendered from USGS 1 m lidar (2019 acquisition) for the coloration, with smooth shaded relief overlaid from the 10 m product. Zoom in to z16+ on Half Dome's face — at 1 m you can read individual exfoliation slabs and the talus fields below.

1 m colormap + 10 m hillshade NW @ 45° · sources at /data