The Sierra Nevada is the largest mountain range in
California, occupying one-fifth of the total area of the state. It
extends more than 400 miles along California's eastern border and
contains many snow-capped peaks over 13,000 feet. Several modern
highways through the range--including those that cross Tioga, Sonora,
and Ebbetts passes--are routinely closed in the winter.
The eastern side of the Sierra Nevada rises steeply,
whereas the western side has a more gentle slope. Forests of pine,
fir, and cedar cover the lower elevations. Rushing mountain rivers
have cut dozens of deep canyons in the western Sierra. Glaciers sculpted
the sheer granite cliffs of the spectacular Yosemite Valley.
The placer gold discovered in California in 1848 was
eroded from rock outcroppings in the high Sierra and deposited in
stream banks and ancient riverbeds of the western foothills.
