hidden, in which the fall is 
675 feet, and finally a ver- 
tical drop of 320 feet. 
From the cliffs surround- 
ing the valley the scene 
is one of remarkable in- 
spiration and beauty. At 
the foot of the traveler lies 
the valley floor, the green 
trees and meadows and the 
winding river giving the ef- 
fect of a rich velvet carpet, 
over which a line of silver 
has been drawn ; here and 
there one gets glimpses of 
the foaming white waters, 
hurling themselves to the 
valley below ; on both sides 
of the valley rise the great 
walls of rock, sculptured by 
the elements into various 
fantastic shapes and figures. 
Beyond the valley is a won- 
derful region of mountain 
and forest, accessible only 
by pack train. 
THE LARGEST TREES IN THE 
WORLD 
The largest trees in the 
world are found in the Yo- 
semite, the General Grant, 
and the Sequoia National 
parks. The Sequoia Na- 
tional Park, established by 
the act of September 25, 
1890, is located in Tulare 
County and has an area of 
161,597 acres. The Gene- 
ral Grant Park, established 
by the act of October i. 
1890, is in Tulare and 
Fresno counties and has an 
area of 2,536 acres. 
These trees grow to a 
height of over 300 feet and 
have a circumference of 
over 100 feet at the base, 
the bark sometimes exceed- 
ing 40 inches in thickness. 
The rings in their trunks 
show that many of them 
are over 3,000 years old. 
For a hundred feet or more 
they are clear of branches, 
then great limbs the thick- 
ness of large trees extend 
WAWONA TREE: 
MARIPOSA BI 
NATIONAL 
G TREE 
PARK 
Photo by 
GROVE, 
J. T. Boysen 
YOSEMITE 
557 
