The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily in Nevada. The Sierra Nevada is part of the American Cordillera, an almost continuous chain of mountain ranges that forms the western "backbone" of the Americas.
California is a U.S. state on the western coast of North America. Covering an area of 163,696 sq mi (423,970 km2), California is among the most geographically diverse states. The Sierra Nevada, the fertile farmlands of the Central Valley, and the arid Mojave Desert of the south are some of the geographic features of this U.S. state. It is home to some of the world's most exceptional trees: the tallest, most massive, and oldest. It is also home to both the highest and lowest points in the 48 contiguous states.
Mount Whitney is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). It is in East–Central California, in the Sierra Nevada, on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, and 84.6 miles (136.2 km) west-northwest of North America's lowest topographic point, Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, at 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. The mountain's west slope is in Sequoia National Park and the summit is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail, which runs 211.9 mi (341.0 km) from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. The eastern slopes are in Inyo National Forest in Inyo County. Mount Whitney is ranked 18th by topographic isolation.
Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects 404,064 acres of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 m), the park contains the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) above sea level. The park is south of, and contiguous with, Kings Canyon National Park; both parks are administered by the National Park Service together as Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. UNESCO designated the areas as Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve in 1976.
The North American Cordillera, sometimes also called the Western Cordillera of North America, the Western Cordillera, or the Pacific Cordillera, is the North American portion of the American Cordillera, the mountain chain system along the Pacific coast of the Americas. The North American Cordillera covers an extensive area of mountain ranges, intermontane basins, and plateaus in Western and Northwestern Canada, Western United States, and Mexico, including much of the territory west of the Great Plains.
Mount Kaweah is a mountain in California's Sequoia National Park and forms part of the Kaweah Peaks Ridge, a spur of the Great Western Divide which extends south from Triple Divide Peak. It has a summit elevation of 13,807 ft (4,208 m), the highest along the Kaweah Peaks Ridge. It is the closest mountain with foothills to Los Angeles.
The High Sierra Trail (HST) is a hiking trail in Sequoia National Park, California. The trail crosses the Sierra Nevada from west to east. According to the Yosemite Decimal System, the HST is a Class 1/Class 2 trail, which means simple scrambling, with the possibility of occasional use of the hands for balance.
The Kaweah River is a river draining the southern Sierra Nevada in Tulare County, California in the United States. Fed primarily by high elevation snowmelt along the Great Western Divide, the Kaweah begins as four forks in Sequoia National Park, where the watershed is noted for its alpine scenery and its dense concentrations of giant sequoias, the largest trees on Earth. It then flows in a southwest direction to Lake Kaweah – the only major reservoir on the river – and into the San Joaquin Valley, where it diverges into multiple channels across an alluvial plain around Visalia. With its Middle Fork headwaters starting at almost 13,000 feet (4,000 m) above sea level, the river has a vertical drop of nearly two and a half miles (4.0 km) on its short run to the San Joaquin Valley, making it one of the steepest river drainages in the United States. Although the main stem of the Kaweah is only 33.6 miles (54.1 km) long, its total length including headwaters and lower branches is nearly 100 miles (160 km).
The Great Western Divide is a Sierra Nevada mountain range located largely in Sequoia National Park. Some of the summits of the Great Western Divide reach well over 13,000 feet (3,962 m). The High Sierra Trail crosses the range at Kaweah Gap from Sequoia National Park.
The Tushar Mountains are the third-highest mountain range in Utah after the Uinta Mountains and the La Sal Range. Located in the Fishlake National Forest, Delano Peak, 12,174 ft NAVD 88, is the highest point in both Beaver and Piute counties and has a prominence of 4,689 ft. Delano Peak is named for Columbus Delano (1809–1896), Secretary of the Interior, during the Grant administration. The Tushars receive an ample amount of snow annually even though they are situated within the rainshadow of the Sierra Nevada range in California and the Snake Range located in Nevada.
Triple Divide Peak is a mountain along the Great Western Divide in the Sierra Nevada range on the boundary between Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks, in Tulare County, California. It rises to 12,640 feet (3,853 m).
The Golden Trout Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area in the Sierra Nevada, in Tulare County and Inyo County, California. It is located 40 miles (64 km) east of Porterville within Inyo National Forest and Sequoia National Forest.
Mount Stewart is on the Great Western Divide, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada in California. It is located in Sequoia National Park, 2.1 miles (3.4 km) southeast of Triple Divide Peak and 2.7 miles (4.3 km) northwest of Black Kaweah. The High Sierra Trail traverses Kaweah Gap south of the summit, and Lilliput Glacier is on the mountain's northern flank.
Needham Mountain is a mountain summit of the Sierra Nevada, located in Tulare County, California. It is located in the southern Sierra Nevada, in the central part of Sequoia National Park. Needham Mountain is 6 mi (9.7 km) miles east of Mineral King, 5.6 mi (9.0 km) northeast of Mount Kaweah, and 17 mi (27 km) southwest of the highest peak in the state, Mount Whitney. With an altitude of 12,536 ft (3,821 m), Needham Mountain is the twentieth-highest mountain in California with a prominence of 1,880 ft (570 m). The mountain is named after an American congressman who represented California at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, James C. Needham. The first ascent of the summit was made in July 1916, by M. R. Parsons, Agnes Vaile, H. B. Graham, and Edmund Chamberlain.
Lippincott Mountain is a mountain summit with an elevation of 12,264 feet (3,738 m), located on the Great Western Divide of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Tulare County of northern California. It is situated in Sequoia National Park, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Mount Eisen, and 1.7 miles (2.7 km) south of Eagle Scout Peak. Topographic relief is significant as the east aspect rises 2,660 feet (810 m) above Big Arroyo in 1.5 mile. Lippincott Mountain ranks as the 351st highest summit in California. The High Sierra Trail traverses below the eastern slope of this mountain, providing an approach option. The southeast slope and east ridge are class 2, and the northwest ridge is a class 3 scramble.
Lion Rock is a 12,360-foot-elevation (3,770-meter) mountain summit located along the Great Western Divide of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Tulare County of northern California. It is situated in Sequoia National Park, one mile northeast of Mount Stewart, and one mile southwest of Triple Divide Peak. Topographic relief is significant as the west aspect rises 3,145 feet above Tamarack Lake in 1.5 mile, and the north aspect rises 1,355 feet above Lion Lake in 0.38 mile. Lion Rock ranks as the 311th highest summit in California.
Mount Eisen is a 12,185-foot-elevation (3,714-meter) double summit mountain located on the Great Western Divide of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Tulare County of northern California. It is situated in Sequoia National Park, 1.6 miles (2.6 km) south of Lippincott Mountain. Mount Eisen ranks as the 380th highest summit in California. Topographic relief is significant as the south aspect rises 3,500 feet above Pinto Lake in one mile. The summit can be reached from the southeast ridge via a long class 2 hike from Black Rock Pass.
Mount McDuffie is a 13,291-foot-elevation (4,051-meter) mountain summit located west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Fresno County of central California, United States. This peak is situated in northern Kings Canyon National Park, 1.9 miles (3.1 km) northwest of The Citadel, and two miles south of Black Giant, which is the nearest higher neighbor. McDuffie ranks as the 93rd highest summit in California, and the second-highest point on Black Divide. Topographic relief is significant as it rises nearly 4,900 feet above Le Conte Canyon in approximately 2.5 miles. An approach to this remote peak is made possible via the John Muir Trail.
Picket Guard Peak is a 12,302-foot-elevation (3,750 meter) mountain summit located west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Tulare County, California. It is situated in Sequoia National Park, two miles southwest of Kern Point, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) north of Mount Kaweah, and three miles east of the junction of Kaweah Peaks Ridge with Great Western Divide. Picket Guard Peak ranks as the 345th-highest summit in California, and topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 4,265 feet above Kern Canyon in approximately three miles.
