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Top 10 Fun Sierra Nevada Facts (California)

The eastern part of the U.S. state of California is dominated by an extensive mountain range. This range is the roof of continental America because it features the highest peak in the contiguous United States. Let's take a closer look at some of the most interesting facts about the Sierra Nevada, a pristine piece of nature that features some of the most amazing attractions in the country.

1. It's primarily located in California but also extends into Nevada

The Sierra Nevada in California, not to be confused with the range with the same name in southern Spain, dominates the eastern part of the state on the West Coast of the United States. Only a small subrange called the "Carson Range" extends into Nevada. It runs north to south and has a length of about 400 miles (640 kilometers). It also has a width of approximately 70 miles (110 kilometers) and forms the division between the Central Valley of California to the west and the Great Basin to the east.

The Sierra Nevada in California / Terrabss / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

2. It's part of a much larger chain of mountain ranges

The Sierra Nevada is an integral part of the American Cordillera, a continuous chain of mountain ranges that run from the northern part of North America to the utmost southern tip of South America. This cordillera in turn forms the eastern part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. This means that other famous mountain ranges such as the Canadian Rockies in the north and the Andes Mountains in the south are part of the same continuous chain of mountains.

Aerial view of the range / Jeffrey Pang / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0

3. It's home to the highest mountain in the U.S. mainland

The range gradually increases in elevation from about 500 feet (150 meters) in the eastern part of the Central Valley of California, all the way to the highest point in the United States. This amazing mountain is called "Mount Whitney and is 14,505 feet (4,421 meters) high. It is situated in East-Central California, right on the boundary of the Inyo and Tulare counties in the state.

Mount Whitney / Geographer / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0/deed.en

4. The highest alpine lake in the U.S. is situated in the eastern part of the range

On the border of the state line of California and Nevada, not too far away from Carson City, you can find the highest alpine lake in the United States. This stunning lake is called "Lake Tahoe" and its surface is situated at an elevation of 6,225 feet (1,897 meters). What's remarkable about Lake Tahoe is that only the 5 Great Lakes of North America are larger in terms of volume. It covers an area of 191 square miles (490 square kilometers), has a maximum length of 22 miles (35 kilometers), and a maximum width of 12 miles (19 kilometers). The reason why it has a volume of 36 cubic miles (150 cubic kilometers) is that it's the second-deepest lake in the United States after Crater Lake in Oregon. It has a maximum depth of 1,645 feet (501 meters) while Crater Lake has a maximum depth of 1,949 feet (594 meters). The area around the lake is full of resorts and the scenery around the lake can only be described as breathtaking, don't you think?

Lake Tahoe / Michael / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

5. Some of the most popular U.S. National Parks can be found here

Apart from the mesmerizing Lake Tahoe, the Sierra Nevada is also home to 3 popular national parks in the United States: - Yosemite National Park - Kings Canyon National Park - Sequoia National Park It also features two national monuments called the Giant Sequoia National Monument and the Devils Postpile National Monument, and 10 national forests as well. Some of the highlights of this vast range of attractions are Yosemite Falls, one of the most stunning Waterfalls in the United States, and "General Sherman", a giant Sequoia tree that is considered to be the largest in the world by volume.

The magnificent Yosemite Falls / Wiki Commons

More interesting facts about the Sierra Nevada

6. The original process which formed the mountain range started during the Nevadan Ororogeny, approximately between 155 and 145 million years ago. This was the time that the granite that make up the range was formed. About 4 million years ago, this granite started being uplifted during a period and erosion from immense glaciers uncovered this original granite. That's the main reason why the cliffs and peaks of the mountains are light-colored. 7. Even though the western side of the mountain range features a gradual increase in elevation for about 50 to 75 miles (80 to 121 kilometers) to the south, this isn't the case in the northern part of the range. The transition to the Great Basin and the Mojave Desert in the southern part of the Sierra Nevada is very steep and is called the "Sierra Escarpment." The huge cliffs of the escarpment do provide amazing scenery, especially in the southern part of the range.

The cliffs of the Sierra Escarpment / Wiki Commons 8. One of the most fascinating facts about the Sierra Nevada is that the highest point in the contiguous United States isn't too far away from the lowest point in the country and all of North America. The summit of Mount Whitney is located just 84.6 miles (136.2 kilometers) north-northwest of Badwater Basin, one of the most amazing features of the Death Valley National Park in California. This basin is situated at an elevation of 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level. 9. The Siera Nevada is the location where the California Goldrush started in the 19th century. This happened in a town named Coloma in the western foothills of the range. It all started on January 24, 1848, when precious metals were found in the American River. The story was published by a San Francisco newspaper in March 1848, and thousands of fortune seekers descended upon the region shortly afterward.

An amazing landscape in the range / Steve Dunleavy / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en For 4 years, simply panning in the river resulted in gold being retrieved. After that, the people selling the shovels were the ones to become rich. 10. Even though the name "Sierra Nevada," which translates from Spanish to "Snowy Mountains," was used to describe unknown mountain ranges in the region since 1542, the rang wasn't described as such until much later. The mountain range we know today was described for the first time by a Spanish Franciscan missionary named Pedro Font in 1776. This is the man who designated the location for the construction of the "Mission San Francisco de Asís," the oldest building in San Francisco today.

Yosemite Valley / AngMoKio / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.en Read the full article

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