Sierra Nevada Mountains Travel Guide: Things to See & Do

The Sierra Nevada mountain range, located in the Western part of the United States, is a must-visit destination for nature enthusiasts. Affectionately known as the “Range of Light,” due to its unusually pale-colored peaks, this vast spread of land boasts breathtaking parks, diverse flora and fauna, and some of the highest mountains and oldest trees on the continent.

Rich in history and with a range extending over 400 miles, visitors will be blown away by the sheer variety of things to see and do in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Indeed, if you’re planning to explore this incredible region, you’ve come to the right place. When we think of California, we tend to focus on well-known and popular attractions like the Hollywood Hills, enormous theme parks, Silicon Valley, and the white-sand beaches of the Bay Area.

But there is so much more to this diverse and culturally-rich state. The Sierra Nevada Mountains, which form a whopping 25% of California’s total land area, are the perfect place for those looking to lose themselves in nature.

In this article, I’ll take you through the history of how these beautiful mountains formed, some of the best and most exciting sights on offer, and the smartest way to plan your trip to the Sierra Nevada region.

Best Things to do in the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Apart from their evident and breathtaking beauty, what about the Sierra Nevada Mountains makes them so appealing to tourists?

To answer this question, let’s take a look at some of the incredible sights and experiences they have to offer. To start, the Sierra is home to not one but three of America’s greatest national parks.

Yosemite National Park

Arguably, the most well-known of these parks is Yosemite, which covers a range of nearly 1,200 square miles and is surrounded by a thick brush of forestland.

Yosemite is known worldwide for its biodiversity, offering everything from lakes and streams to waterfalls, glaciers, and meadows. Together with this, it’s home to a huge variety of animals, including grizzly bears and foxes, and wild and whimsical plant life to see on a day trip.

On the topic of flora, Yosemite also features three massive sequoia groves worthy of a visit in their own right. If this park is on your itinerary, some must-visit spots include the El Capitan granite monolith, the largest single piece of granite in the world, and the Wawona Tunnel View.

Both are rife for photo opportunities, or if you’re an expert mountaineer or hiker, even a trail or two. For those wanting to eat while they drink in their surroundings, pop by The Ahwahnee Yosemite Dining Room in the heart of Yosemite Valley.

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Kings Canyon National Park

The expansive and mountainous Kings Canyon National Park is the second great park to make our list. Named for its plummeting, mile-deep valley, this region of the Sierra is exceptional for camping, offering three different sites and over 300 lots.

From any of these camping grounds, you can embark on numerous hiking trails, which range in levels of difficulty. But if you’re not up for camping, you can book a stay at John Muir Lodge, which has a restaurant and a fully stocked general store.

Some of the most popular features of Kings Canyon are the Redwood Mountain Grove, the Boyden Cavern, and the General Grant Grove, home to one of the tallest stands of sequoia trees in the world.

South Fork, which runs through Cedar Grove, is considered an ideal spot for fly fishing.

See Related: Northern California vs Southern California: What’s the Difference?

Sequoia National Park

Last but not least, no visit to the Sierra Nevada would be complete without a trip to Sequoia National Park. Named after its enormous grove of over 5,000 sequoia trees – or redwoods – as they’re more commonly known, this special spot is also home to the one and only General Sherman tree.

You may not know, but sequoias can live for over 3000 years. Named after a man who barely pushed 5’ 11”, the giant General Sherman tree is the largest tree on earth in terms of volume and is thought to be over 3500 years old.

Speaking of giants, Mount Whitney, another Sierra must-visit attraction, is also located in Sequoia National Park. This is the tallest peak in the contiguous US and can be reached by climbing, by trail, or by road.

Visitors to Sequoia have a range of accommodations to choose from, including campsites, lodges, and hotels. We recommend Wuksachi Lodge, which is conveniently close to the Giant Forest.

Lake Tahoe

Once you’ve had your fill hiking the Sierra Nevada Mountains, you can spend some time relaxing at Lake Tahoe, the range’s largest freshwater lake. Surrounded by stunning scenery and beloved for its pristine blue waters, there are dozens of activities for the whole family to enjoy, including sunbathing, swimming, boating, and skiing.

What makes Lake Tahoe a great attraction for tourists is its year-round visitability in the heart of Southern Sierra Nevada. In the summer, the temperate weather makes it perfect for soaking in the sun and cruising around the waters.

And in the winter, it transforms into a hub for snow sports, with ski resorts like the Heavenly Mountain Resort making a considerable contribution to its economy. Lake Tahoe is also popular with trail runners and mountain bikers, given its many off-road paths.

If you’re visiting Lake Tahoe, you have plenty of options for where to stay, from campgrounds to high-end hotels. The Tahoe Lakeshore Lodge, for example, is right by the water and has a stunning coastal view of the beach and the mountains.

See Related: Best Beaches in Lake Tahoe

Mount Whitney

Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet tall, is the highest point in the contiguous United States. Located on the border of Sequoia National Park and Inyo National Forest in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, Mount Whitney is a popular destination for hikers and climbers alike. The trailhead begins at an elevation of 9,000 feet—almost 4 miles above sea level—and requires a permit to access.

The popular South Fork Trail (about 10 miles round-trip) is an excellent choice for beginners looking to take on this challenge; it offers breathtaking views and challenging terrain that will take all day to complete. If you want something a little more challenging but with fewer crowds than Whitney Portal (the starting point for most hikers), try out Mirror Lake Trail instead.

Gold Country

In the market to soak in some pure American history? Why not include a trip to Gold Country on your Sierra Nevada tour?

Located on the Western slope, this area is where the Gold Rush began all the way back in 1848. California State Route 49 takes you through various historic mining communities, including Nevada County and Yuba County.

In Nevada County, you can visit Holbrooke Hotel, which, remarkably, is still functional, even though it was built in 1851. It offers excellent dining and uniquely decorated rooms that instantly transport you back to a different time.

John Muir Trail

The John Muir Trail is a 211-mile backpacking trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California. It was named after John Muir, a naturalist and the founder of the Sierra Club.

The trail is a part of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail and passes through some of California’s most beautiful wilderness areas. The JMT can be hiked during any time of year but if you want to experience the best hiking season then July & August are your best bet.

See Related: Most Scenic Bike Trails in America

Upper Montane Forest

What’s better than a forest? A high-altitude one! This mountain range is home to some of the most beautiful forests in the United States — and this is the perfect place to enjoy them.

The Upper Montane Forest, which grows at altitudes between 5,000 and 8,000 feet (1,500 – 2,400 meters), is made up mostly of conifers like lodgepole pine and whitebark pine. The trees in this part of the Northern Sierra Nevada region are typically shorter than those found in lower-elevation forests because they need less sunlight to grow.

Planning Your Trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Half the fun of going on vacation is planning your trip and knowing what you want to experience. The Sierra Nevada is rich in scenery and outdoor activities but also offers incredible accommodation and dining, including breweries and wineries.

The Sierra Nevada mountains are pretty easy to find and visitors from out of state can fly into the Reno-Tahoe International Airport which is nearby. Depending on where you stay, this area offers all significant amenities. Campers will be pleased to find that in-park sites have plenty of ablutions and most have small stores for picking up goods.

Budget-wise, a trip to Sierra can be affordable if you choose to camp but will escalate depending on where you stay and what you want to do.

It’s not necessary to spend a fortune though, as the natural surroundings and breathtaking vistas around you are simply priceless. So if you’re going to splurge on anything, make it a drone with a fancy camera.

Formation of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range

So, how did the Sierra Nevada Mountains form? The Sierra Nevada – which roughly translates to “Snowy Mountains” – has an interesting backstory, particularly around how it came into being.

Studies have shown that deep granite regions, which the Sierra Nevada began forming underground over a hundred million years ago, comprise the base of this formidable range.

Continuous tectonic shifts across thousands of years caused this granite to shift and split. With erosion by glaciers, it found its way to the earth’s surface, eventually turning into the peaks of Sierra Nevada.

As far as mountains go, this range is considered relatively young, with evidence suggesting it only started to appear around 5 million years ago. And what makes the Sierra Nevada mountain range even more fascinating is that it still continues to grow and uplift.

While this growth is minuscule in the grand scheme of things – only around one millimeter per year – it does mean that the range is constantly changing and building. In fifty years, for example, entire peaks can change in shape due to tectonic movement underground.

So, what about their strange pale hue? This is because they are still so young n’ haven’t reached the stage where they become weathered and darkened by erosion. Together with this, their immense granite content is generally light in color, earning them their moniker as the “Range of Light.”

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A Brief History of the Sierra Nevada Mountains

While the Sierra Nevada Mountains are impressive enough just to look at, they also have a rich and storied history. American exploration of the mountains only began around 1827, but in just a few years, it became known as the heart of the Gold Rush, which started in its Western Foothills.

The story is a simple one but a real testament to the power of word-of-mouth. In 1848, a mill foreman, James W Marshall, discovered what he thought was just a nugget of shiny rock.

In less than two months, rumors of the California gold rush from Sierra’s flowing rivers had made their way across various counties, drawing in thousands of locals, and immigrants from all over the world, hoping to make their fortunes.

Soon, Sierra Nevada was home to entire communities of miners and workers, and most of the accessible gold was collected by 1853. Consequently, more complicated mining procedures were undertaken, and large corporations started to move into the area. While this isn’t necessarily a happy tale, one positive outcome was that it forced the nature preservation legislature into effect.

Together with this, a formal survey of the mountains was ordered, which to this point had remained with over 60% of their land area unexplored. Today, the many parks and biosystems of Sierra Nevada are well-protected and preserved.

This means visitors can freely enjoy the area, provided they are mindful of the measures in place to protect it.

Geography of the Sierra Nevada Range

The Sierra span about 400 miles (650km) north-southeast and 60 to 80 miles east-west, extending through the Central Valley Depression westwards into a region known as Basins & Ranges.

The Sierra Nevada Mountains stretch across eighteen counties, and their topography is surprisingly asymmetric, with dramatic elevation changes from the western to eastern sections of the range.

The Sierra Nevada range contains many peaks, including the highest point in the contiguous 48 states: Mount Whitney at 14,505 ft (4,418 m). The Sierra is home to Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, and Kings Canyon National Park.

See Related: Best Places to Travel in Your 20s in the US

Plant and Animal Life in the Sierra Nevada Mountains

The Sierra Nevada region is home to many different biotic areas that sustain a variety of plant and animal species. These include the western foothill pine juniper, lower mountain forest, higher massif forest (tree line), subalpine forest, and alpine habitats above the tree line; elk are also well adapted to living in this area. The Sierra Nevada Mountains are home to many different types of mammals and reptiles including the mountain lion, gray fox, bobcat, black bear, and even the Sierra Nevada red fox.

The western slopes have 5 vegetation zones from lower foothills to upper foothills, live oaks, shrubs or deciduous trees thrive; Ponderosa Pine and black oaks grow along with Incense Cedars. The region has the world’s largest forests, which include: red pine and Douglas fir as well as giant sequoias.

Final Thoughts

There are so many great things to do in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, it’s hard to know where to start. The mountains are home to some of California’s most iconic landmarks and natural wonders, like Yosemite Falls and Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve.

Visitors can explore these places on foot or by boat, but some of our favorite activities include kayaking on Fallen Leaf Lake, hiking through the ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, or Mount Whitney Trail – all within a day’s drive from San Francisco, Reno, or Sacramento.

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