"These beautiful days must enrich all my life. They do not exist as mere pictures…but they saturate themselves into every part of the body and live always".
— John Muir from "My First Winter in the Yosemite Valley"

Within the Sierra Nevada range are more than 6,000 sq. miles of lands designated as wilderness areas. They include the John Muir, Ansel Adams, Dinkey Lakes, Hoover, South Sierra, Yosemite, Emigrant and more. Four national parks — Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite and Lassen — and more than 11 million acres of national forests are protected as well. The national forests include Modoc, Lassen, Plumas, Tahoe, El Dorado, Stanislaus, Toyabe, Inyo, Sierra and Sequoia. These protected areas offer respite to millions of visitors each year and habitat to the thousands of wildlife species that make these spectacular and rugged mountains their home.

John Muir named the Sierra Nevada "The Range of Light". An outstanding example of the views that inspired him is the Sawtooth Ridge above Upper Twin Lake in Bridgeport. At sunset the golden hues cast by the vast granite escarpment are magnificent. Azure blue skies and billowing white clouds often enhance this inspiring and unique landscape. For those who appreciate the mountains, this experience is a must, at least once in a lifetime!

Hikers, horseback riders, fishermen, climbers and other adventurers enjoy these forests and wilderness areas from late spring well into the fall of each year. The Sierra Nevada, nearly 450 miles from north to south, is one of the major mountain ranges on the planet. It claims some of the most remote landscapes and highest elevations in the contiguous United States, providing the connection with nature's beauty and serenity that so many people living today's fast-paced life styles are seeking. Henry David Thoreau said it so well, "In wilderness is the preservation of the world".