Webcams

Giant Forest

This webcam looks west from the edge of the Giant Forest. In summer, a gray layer of polluted air can be seen forming over the valley. Rarely can you see both the San Joaquin Valley and the Coast Range beyond that. With increasing air pollution blowing up into the Sierra Nevada from the Bay Area and the Valley, very clear days are becoming ever more rare.

View Webcam

 

The Giant Forest webcam is one of a network of digital cameras at many parks that help to track conditions and to educate the public on air-quality issues. These cameras often show visibility impairment due to air-quality issues, whether natural (such as wildfire) or human-caused pollution. Because the cameras are part of air-quality monitoring sites, their web pages display other information along with the latest photo: current levels of ozone, particulate matter, or sulfur dioxide air pollutants, visual range, and weather conditions. The digital photos are usually updated every 15 minutes, while air-quality data values are revised hourly.

 

Other Webcams

ALERTCalifornia, based at University of California San Diego, provides access to mountaintop webcams throughout California, including fire lookout webcams in the Sierra Nevada. The camera on Buck Rock (listed as "Buck Rock 2") shows portions of Kings Canyon National Park in the Cedar Grove area.

A private webcam in Mineral King Valley and the Silver City webcam show current weather conditions and snow levels in the Mineral King area.