Cook's Meadow Tour - From Yosemite to Our Own Backyards

Half Dome reflects in water pooled on Cook's Meadow

Quick Facts

Amenities

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

This is a good place to take a look at what John Muir called "the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter. It must be the sanctum sanctorum of the Sierra (holiest of the holy places)."

Changes that created this magnificent scenery occur over long periods of time. The cliffs and waterfalls will remain well into the future no matter what humans do. Changes caused by 150 years of tourism were rapid and damaging to the natural environment. Now with more deliberation, research, and care, it is clear that some resource damage can be corrected while enhancing the visitor experience. This may mean a change in the way we visit and experience this place. Changes in the future will help protect and restore the natural environment. The health of meadows, woodlands, and the river will improve. People of the world continue to increase their understanding, respect, and love of natural places, so the support needed to carry this work into the future seems assured.

Can we learn from our experience here what it means to live harmoniously within landscapes and their natural and essential processes? Some of the biggest threats to Yosemite come from well beyond its borders. Perhaps the future success of preservation in Yosemite will depend upon sensitivity to the wonders of nature wherever we live. We can be thankful for our Yosemite experience, which has awakened us to nature's grand and minute wonders and reminded us that our fates are inextricably linked.