located_in_the_administrative_territorial_entity fairview dome
___MASK37___ is a national park spanning portions ___MASK44___ Tuolumne , Mariposa and Madera counties in ___MASK70___ ___MASK12___ . The park , which is managed by the National Park Service , covers an area ___MASK44___ and reaches across the western slopes ___MASK44___ the Sierra Nevada mountain range . About 4 million people visit Yosemite each year : most spend the majority ___MASK44___ their time in the seven square miles ( 18 km ) ___MASK44___ Yosemite Valley . Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984 , Yosemite is internationally recognized for its granite cliffs , waterfalls , clear streams , giant sequoia groves , lakes , mountains , glaciers , and biological diversity . Almost 95 % ___MASK44___ the park is designated wilderness . Yosemite was central to the development ___MASK44___ the national park idea . First , Galen Clark and others lobbied to protect Yosemite Valley from development , ultimately leading to President Abraham Lincoln ' s signing the Yosemite Grant in 1864 . Later , John Muir led a successful movement to establish a larger national park encompassing not just the valley , but surrounding mountains and forests as well  paving the way for the United States national park system . Tuolumne Meadows is a gentle , dome - studded sub - ___MASK38___ meadowy section ___MASK44___ the Tuolumne River , in the eastern section ___MASK44___ Yosemite National Park , in the United States . Its approximate location is . Its approximate elevation is . The term " Tuolumne Meadows " is also often used to describe large portion ___MASK44___ Yosemite high country around the meadows , especially in context ___MASK44___ rock climbing . ___MASK70___ ___MASK12___ , often abbreviated NorCal , is the northern portion of the U . S . state of ___MASK12___ . Spanning the state ' s northernmost 48 counties , in contrast to the 10 counties of Southern ___MASK12___ , its main population centers include the San Francisco Bay Area ( anchored by the cities of San Francisco , San Jose , and Oakland ), the Greater Sacramento area ( anchored by the state capital Sacramento ), and the Metropolitan Fresno area ( anchored by the city of Fresno ). ___MASK70___ ___MASK12___ also contains redwood forests , along with the Sierra Nevada including Yosemite Valley and part of Lake Tahoe , Mount Shasta ( the second - highest peak in the Cascade Range after Mount Rainier in Washington ), and the northern portion of the Central Valley , one of the world ' s most productive agricultural regions . Granite domes are domical hills composed ___MASK44___ granite with bare rock exposed over most ___MASK44___ the surface . Generally , domical features such as these are known as bornhardts . Bornhardts can form in any type ___MASK44___ plutonic rock but are typically composed ___MASK44___ granite and granitic gneiss . As granitic plutons cool kilometers below the earth  s surface minerals in the rock crystallize under uniform confining pressure . Erosion brings the rock closer to earth  s surface and the pressure from above the rock decreases ; as a result the rock fractures . These fractures are known as exfoliation joints , or sheet fractures , and form in onionlike patterns that are parallel to the land surface . These sheets ___MASK44___ rock peel off the exposed surface and in certain conditions develop domical structures . Additional theories on the origin ___MASK44___ granite domes involve scarp - retreat and tectonic uplift . A waterfall is a place where water flows over a vertical drop or a series ___MASK44___ drops in the course ___MASK44___ a stream or river . Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge ___MASK44___ a tabular iceberg or ice shelf . The Tuolumne ___MASK57___ (" To All o ' Me "; Yokutsan : " Tawalimnu ") flows for through ___MASK97___ ___MASK12___ , from the high Sierra Nevada to join the San Joaquin ___MASK57___ in the ___MASK97___ Valley . Originating at over above sea level in Yosemite National Park , the Tuolumne drains a rugged watershed of , carving a series of canyons through the western slope of the Sierra . While the upper Tuolumne is a fast - flowing mountain stream , the lower river crosses a broad , fertile and extensively cultivated alluvial plain . Like most other central ___MASK12___ rivers , the Tuolumne is dammed multiple times for irrigation and the generation of hydroelectricity . Granite is a common type ___MASK44___ felsic intrusive igneous rock that is granular and phaneritic in texture . Granites can be predominantly white , pink , or gray in color , depending on their mineralogy . The word " granite " comes from the Latin " granum ", a grain , in reference to the coarse - grained structure ___MASK44___ such a holocrystalline rock . By definition , granite is an igneous rock with at least 20 % quartz and up to 65 % alkali feldspar by volume . In ___MASK86___ science , erosion is the action ___MASK44___ surface processes ( such as water flow or wind ) that remove soil , rock , or dissolved material from one location on the Earth ' s crust , then transport it away to another location . The particulate breakdown ___MASK44___ rock or soil into clastic sediment is referred to as " physical " or " mechanical " erosion ; this contrasts with " chemical " erosion , where soil or rock material is removed from an area by its dissolving into a solvent ( typically water ), followed by the flow away ___MASK44___ that solution . Eroded sediment or solutes may be transported just a few millimetres , or for thousands ___MASK44___ kilometres . A lake is an area ___MASK44___ variable size filled with water , localized in a basin , that is surrounded by land , apart from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake . ___MASK23___ lie on land and are not part ___MASK44___ the ocean , and therefore are distinct from lagoons , and are also larger and deeper than ponds , though there are no official or scientific definitions . ___MASK23___ can be contrasted with rivers or streams , which are usually flowing . Most ___MASK23___ are fed and drained by rivers and streams . A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations , specifically by UNESCO . Sites are selected on the basis ___MASK44___ having cultural , historical , scientific or some other form ___MASK44___ significance , and they are legally protected by international treaties . UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the collective interests ___MASK44___ humanity . Abraham ___MASK15___ ( February 12 , 1809  April 15 , 1865 ) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 16th President ___MASK44___ the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865 . ___MASK15___ led the United States through its Civil War  its bloodiest war and perhaps its greatest moral , constitutional , and political crisis . In doing so , he preserved the Union , abolished slavery , strengthened the federal government , and modernized the economy . Fairview Dome is a prominent granite dome in ___MASK37___ , located 1 . 8 miles ( 2 . 9 km ) north ___MASK44___ Cathedral Peak and 4 miles ( 6 . 4 km ) west ___MASK44___ Tuolumne Meadows . John Muir wrote ___MASK44___ the peak : `` One ___MASK44___ the best general views ___MASK44___ the brightest and best ___MASK44___ the Yosemite park landscapes that every Yosemite tourist should see , is to be had from the top ___MASK44___ Fairview Dome , a lofty conoidal rock near Cathedral Peak that long ago I named the Tuolumne Glacier Monument , one ___MASK44___ the most striking and best preserved ___MASK44___ the domes ... The general view from the summit consists ___MASK44___ a sublime assemblage ___MASK44___ ice - born rocks and mountains , long wavering ridges , meadows , ___MASK23___ , and forest - covered moraines , hundreds ___MASK44___ square miles ___MASK44___ them . '' The north face route is popular with rock climbers and is listed in the classic guidebook Fifty Classic Climbs ___MASK44___ North America . Routes vary in difficulty up to possibly class 5 . 11 . Gneiss is a common distributed type ___MASK44___ rock formed by high - grade regional metamorphic processes from pre - existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks . It is often foliated ( composed ___MASK44___ layers ___MASK44___ sheet - like planar structures ). The foliations are characterized by alternating darker and lighter colored bands , called " gneissic banding ". John Muir ( April 21 , 1838  December 24 , 1914 ) also known as " John ___MASK44___ the Mountains ", was a Scottish - American naturalist , author , environmental philosopher and early advocate ___MASK44___ preservation ___MASK44___ wilderness in the United States . His letters , essays , and books telling ___MASK44___ his adventures in nature , especially in the Sierra Nevada ___MASK44___ ___MASK12___ and Nevada , have been read by millions . His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley , Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas . The Sierra Club , which he founded , is a prominent American conservation organization . The John Muir Trail , a hiking trail in the Sierra Nevada , was named in his honor . Other such places include Muir Woods National Monument , Muir Beach , John Muir College , Mount Muir , Camp Muir and Muir Glacier . In Scotland , the John Muir Way , a 130 - mile - long route , was named in honor ___MASK44___ him . A glacier ( or ) is a persistent body ___MASK44___ dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight ; it forms where the accumulation ___MASK44___ snow exceeds its ablation ( melting and sublimation ) over many years , often centuries . Glaciers slowly deform and flow due to stresses induced by their weight , creating crevasses , seracs , and other distinguishing features . They also abrade rock and debris from their substrate to create landforms such as cirques and moraines . Glaciers form only on land and are distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface ___MASK44___ bodies ___MASK44___ water . ___MASK12___ is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area . Located on the western ( Pacific Ocean ) coast of the U . S ., ___MASK12___ is bordered by the other U . S . states of Oregon , Nevada , and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja ___MASK12___ . The state capital is Sacramento . Los Angeles is ___MASK12___ ' s most populous city , and the country ' s second largest after New York City . The state also has the nation ' s most populous county , Los Angeles County , and its largest county by area , San Bernardino County . Galen ___MASK76___ ( March 28 , 1814  March 24 , 1910 ) is known as the first European American to discover the Mariposa Grove ___MASK44___ Giant Sequoia trees , and is notable for his role in gaining legislation to protect it and the Yosemite area , and for 24 years serving as Guardian ___MASK44___ Yosemite National Park . Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in ___MASK37___ in the western Sierra Nevada mountains ___MASK44___ ___MASK70___ ___MASK12___ . The valley is about long and up to a mile deep , surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan , and densely forested with pines . The valley is drained by the Merced River and a multitude ___MASK44___ streams and waterfalls including Tenaya , Illilouette , Yosemite and Bridalveil Creeks . Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America , and is a big attraction especially in the spring when the water flow is at its peak . The valley is renowned for its natural beauty , and is widely regarded as the centerpiece ___MASK44___ ___MASK37___ , attracting visitors from around the world . A stream is a body ___MASK44___ water with a current , confined within a bed and banks . Depending on its location or certain characteristics , a stream may be referred to as a " bayou ", " beck ", " branch ", " brook ", " burn ", " creek ", " crick ", " ghyll ", " gill ", " kill ", " lick ", " mill race ", " race ", " rill ", " river ", " rivulet ", " run ", " runnel ", " streamage ", " syke ", or " wash ". ___MASK26___ climbing is an activity in which participants climb up , down or across natural ___MASK26___ formations or artificial ___MASK26___ walls . The goal is to reach the summit ___MASK44___ a formation or the endpoint ___MASK44___ a usually pre - defined route without falling . Due to the length and extended endurance required and because accidents are more likely to happen on descent than ascent , ___MASK26___ Climbers do not usually climb back down the route . It is very rare for a climber to downclimb , especially on the larger multiple pitches ( class III - IV and / or multi - day grades IV - VI climbs ). Professional ___MASK26___ climbing competitions have the objectives ___MASK44___ either completing the route in the quickest possible time or attaining the farthest point on an increasingly difficult route . Scrambling , another activity involving the scaling ___MASK44___ hills and similar formations , is similar to ___MASK26___ climbing . However , ___MASK26___ climbing is generally differentiated by its sustained use ___MASK44___ hands to support the climber ' s weight as well as to provide balance . The ___MASK58___ Service ( NPS ) is an agency ___MASK44___ the United States federal government that manages all U . S . national parks , many American national monuments , and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations . It was created on August 25 , 1916 , by Congress through the ___MASK58___ Service Organic Act and is an agency ___MASK44___ the United States Department ___MASK44___ the Interior . The NPS is charged with a dual role ___MASK44___ preserving the ecological and historical integrity ___MASK44___ the places entrusted to its management while also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment . In geology , a pluton is a body ___MASK44___ intrusive igneous rock ( called a plutonic rock ) that is crystallized from magma slowly cooling below the surface ___MASK44___ the Earth . Plutons include batholiths , stocks , dikes , sills , laccoliths , lopoliths , and other igneous bodies . In practice , " pluton " usually refers to a distinctive mass ___MASK44___ igneous rock , typically several kilometers in dimension , without a tabular shape like those ___MASK44___ dikes and sills . Batholiths commonly are aggregations ___MASK44___ plutons . Examples ___MASK44___ plutons include Denali , Cuillin , Cardinal Peak , Mount Kinabalu and Stone Mountain . Exfoliation joints or sheet joints are surface - parallel fracture systems in ___MASK26___ often leading to erosion ___MASK44___ concentric slabs . A ___MASK58___ is a park in use for conservation purposes . Often it is a reserve ___MASK44___ natural , semi - natural , or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns . Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently , there is a common idea : the conservation ___MASK44___ ' wild nature ' for posterity and as a symbol ___MASK44___ national pride . An international organization , the International Union for Conservation ___MASK44___ Nature ( IUCN ), and its World Commission on Protected Areas , has defined " National Park " as its " Category II " type ___MASK44___ protected areas .