Teacher Resources: Visiting the Park

This page suggests additional reading material about Yosemite National Park. Topics in "Yosemite in Depth" also contain "Reference" links with recommendations for further reading about that particular subject.

Visiting the Park
Not Visiting the Park

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Helpful Resources: Suggested Reading

Most of the following books are available through the Yosemite Association book catalog. Some books may be in your local library. This list also recommends park guidebooks, history books, natural history books, and field cards.

Guidebooks to the Park

R. Ditton and D.E. McHenry. Yosemite Road Guide. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1989 (revised and updated from 1956 edition). Descriptive road guide keyed to roadside markers throughout the park.

Medley, Stephen P. The Complete Guidebook to Yosemite National Park. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1997. Useable guide to Yosemite with accurate up-to-date information and good maps.

U.S. National Park Service. Yosemite: The Official National Park Handbook. Division of Publications, NPS, Washington, D.C. 1990. Informative overview of park with colored photos.

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Native American Books & Articles

Barrett, S.A. and E.W. Gifford. Miwok Material Culture. Bulletin of Milwaukee Public Museum 2(4). 1933. Reprinted by the Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA.

Bates, Craig D.

The Miwok in Yosemite: Southern Miwok Life, History and Lanauage in the Yosemite Region. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1996. Introductory booklet to the Miwok people of the Yosemite region.

“Acorn Storehouses of the Yosemite Miwok.” Masterkey 57(1):19-27. 1984.

“Fish and the Miwok.” Masterkey 58(1):1 8-23. 1984.

“Sierra Miwok Shamans: 1900-1990.” California Indian Shamanism. Edited by Lowell John Bean. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press 1992.

“Scholars and Collectors Among the Sierra Miwok, 1900-1920: What did They Really Find?” Museum Anthropology I 7(2):7-1 9. 1993.

Tradition and Innovation. A Basket History of the Indians of the Yosemite-Mono Lake Area. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1990.

Bates, Craig D. and Martha J. Lee. “Yosemite: A Melting Pot For Indian People and Their Baskets.” Strands of Time: Yokuts, Mono and Miwok
Basketmakers. Fresno Metropolitan Museum. Fresno, CA. 1988.

Bunnell, Lafayette. Discovery of Yosemite. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1990 (reprint). A journal account of the first non-Indian group to enter Yosemite Valley.

Clark, Galen. Indians of the Yosemite. Kings River Press, Lemoore, CA. 1992 (reprint of 1907 edition). Description of Indian life and times in Yosemite by the first guardian of the Yosemite Land Grant.

Godfrey, Elizabeth. Yosemite Indians. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1977.

Heizer, Robert F. and Albert B. Elsasser. The Natural World of the California Indians. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. 1980.

Kroeber, A.L. Handbook of the Indians of California. Dover Publications, New York (reprint). 1925. An anthropologist’s study of California Indians. Period work.

La Pena, Frank, Craig Bates, and Stephen P. Medley. Legends of the Yosemite Miwok. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1993. Traditional legends of the Yosemite Miwok.

Margolin, Malcolm. The Way We Lived. Heyday Books, Berkeley, CA. 1993.

Memam, C. Hart. The Dawn of the World: Myths and Tales of the Miwok Indians of California. Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE (Reprint of 1910 edition). 1993.

Ortiz, Bev. It Will Live Forever: Traditional Yosemite Indian Acorn Preparation. Heyday Books, Berkeley, CA. 1991. Description and photographs of Yosemite Indian acorn preparation.

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History Books

Browning, Peter. Yosemite Place Names. Great West Books, Lafayette, CA. 1988. The historic background of the geographic names in Yosemite.

Demars, Stanford. The Tourist in Yosemite. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1991. Historic overview of Yosemite from the visitor perspective.

Ditton, R. and D.E. McHenry. Yosemite Road Guide. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1989 (revised and updated from 1956 edition). Descriptive road guide keyed to roadside markers throughout the park.

Gordon, Albert and Annie Reynolds. Stage to Yosemite: Recollections of Wawona’s Albert Gordon. Big Tree Books, El Portal, CA. 1994. Recollections of the days of stage travel and the early years of Yosemite.

Hutchings, James, M. In the Heart of the Sierras: Yosemite Valley and the Big Trees Grove. Great West Books, Layfayette, CA 1990 (reprint of the 1886 edition). Descriptive account of early Yosemite by one of the first hoteliers in the Valley.

Johnston, Hank. The Yosemite Grant 1864-1906: A Pictorial History. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1995. Early history of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove. Includes an in-depth study of the important historical figures and California’s governance of the grant.

Johnston, Hank and Martha Lee. Guide to the Yosemite Cemetery. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1997. Booklet guide to the Yosemite Cemetery with keyed map to grave sites and historic photographs.

Muir, John. The Yosemite. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, CA. 1988 (reprinted from the 1912 edition). From Muir’s journal, accounts of his travels in the Yosemite.

O’Neil, Elizabeth. Meadow in the Sky. Albicaulis Press, Groveland, CA. 1993 (third edition). A history of the Tuolumne Meadows region of Yosemite.

Olmsted, Frederick Law. Yosemite and the Marwosa Grove: A Preliminary Report. 1865. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1995. Prospectus for the early Land Grant by one of the first commissioners.

Orland, Ted. Man and Yosemite: A Photographer’s View of the Early Years. The Image Continuum Press, Santa Cruz, CA. Historic photographs with descriptive text.

Robertson, David. West of Eden: A History of Art and Literature of Yosemite. Yosemite Association, and Wilderness Press, El Portal, CA. 1984. How the arts and literature shaped viewpoints of Yosemite, from the first people to the making of a National Park.

Robertson, David. Yosemite As We Saw It: A Centennial Collection of Early Writings and Art. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1990. A collection of early art and writings about Yosemite.

Russell, Carl. One Hundred Years In Yosemite. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1988 (reprint of 1941 edition). First “history” of Yosemite from it’s discovery and early years to becoming a National Park.

Sanborn, Margaret. Yosemite: Its Discoveries, Its Wonders, and Its People. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1989 (reprinted from 1981 edition). An easily read account of Yosemite Valley and the people who were instrumental in making it what it is today.

Sargent, Shirley. Yosemite’s Historic Wawona. Flying Spur Press, Yosemite, CA. 1979. Easy to read historical account of the early years in Wawona.

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Natural History Books

Arno, Stephen and Gyer, Jane. Discovering Sierra Trees. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1973. Easy-to-use field guide. Line drawings, elevation ranges of the most common trees found in the park.

Basey, Harold E. Discovering Sierra Reptiles and Amphibians. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1976. Easy-to-use field guide, color photographs.

Beedy, Edward C. and Granholm, Stephen L. Discovering Sierra Birds. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1985. Easy-to-use guide to the Sierra Nevada varied bird population. Some colored drawings, elevation ranges and habitats.

Hill, Mary. Geology of the Sierra Nevada. University of Ca. Press, Berkeley, CA. 1975. Geologic overview of the Sierra Nevada, including the Yosemite region. Color photographs and line drawings support the text.

Grater, Russell and Blaue, Tom. Discovering Sierra Mammals. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1978. Easy-to-use guide. Line drawings, elevation ranges, and habitats.

Horn, Elizabeth. Wildflowers 3: The Sierra Nevada. Touchstone Press, Beaverton, OR. 1976. A guide to selected wildflowers and foliage of the Sierra Nevada, colored photos.

Huber, King. The Geologic Story of Yosemite National Park. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1989. Most Informative source for the geological history of the Yosemite area.

Jones, William R. Domes, Cliffs, and Waterfalls: A Brief Geology of Yosemite Valley. Yosemite Association., El Portal, CA. 1990. Readable, brief geologic history on development of some of Yosemite’s geologic features, with illustrations.

Morgenson, Dana C. Yosemite Wildflower Trails. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1988. Field guide to Yosemite’s most popular wildflower trails with accompanying color photos of selected wildflowers.

Osborne, Michael. Granite, Water, and Light: Waterfalls of Yosemite. Yosemite Association, El Portal, CA. 1983. Geologic history of the origin of Yosemite's waterfalls including descriptions of the falls’ beauty.

Storer & Usinger. Sierra Nevada Natural History. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. 1963. Field Guide of Sierra Nevada plants and animals. Includes brief overview of Sierra Nevada natural history and geology.

Whitney, Stephen. The Sierra Nevada: A Naturalist’s Guide. Sierra Club Press, San Francisco, CA. 1979. An in-depth review of the geology and natural history of the Sierra Nevada with a section on Yosemite geology. Supplemented with illustrations.

Wilson, Jim and Wilson, Lynn. Wildflowers of Yosemite. Sunrise Productions, Yosemite, CA. 1987. User-friendly field guide to many common wildflower species in Yosemite with accompanying color photos.

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Field Cards

Sierra Nevada Field Card Set by Elizabeth Morales. Vinyl plastic identification cards depicting Sierra Nevada birds, mammals, trees, and wildflowers. Yosemite Association book catalog.

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