A vast Sierra Nevada landscape of foothill oak woodlands, mountain forests, alpine lakes, and high country wilderness.
Sierra National Forest
Sierra National Forest is a U.S. national forest located on the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada in California, bounded on the northwest by Yosemite National Park and on the south by Kings Canyon National Park. The forest encompasses more than 1.3 million acres, ranging from oak-covered foothill country along the San Joaquin Valley margin up through heavily forested middle-elevation slopes and into the open tundra-like terrain of the High Sierra.
The forest is known for its mountain scenery and beautiful lakes, including Bass Lake, Shaver Lake, Huntington Lake, Wishon Reservoir, and Courtright Reservoir. It also includes several designated wilderness areas such as Ansel Adams, John Muir, Dinkey Lakes, Kaiser, and Monarch, which protect some of the most distinctive high-country landscapes in the southern Sierra Nevada.
Sierra National Forest was created in 1893 as the second national forest in California and originally covered a much larger territory than it does today. Over time, major portions were carved out to form Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, as well as the Inyo, Toiyabe, Sequoia, and Stanislaus National Forests, leaving today's forest as a central remnant of the historic Sierra Forest Reserve.
