The valley is about 7.5 mi (12.1 km) long and 3,000–3,500 ft (910–1,070 m) deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines.

The valley is drained by the Merced River, and a multitude of streams and waterfalls flow into it, including Tenaya, Illilouette, Yosemite and Bridalveil Creeks.

Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America and is a big attraction, especially in the spring, when the water flow is at its peak.

The valley is the main attraction in the park for the majority of visitors and a bustling hub of activity during tourist season in the summer months.

Yosemite Valley is on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, 150 miles (240 km) east of San Francisco.

The flat floor of Yosemite Valley holds both forest and large open meadows, which have views of the surrounding crests and waterfalls.

The view from the lower (western) end of the Valley contains the great granite monolith El Capitan on the left, and Cathedral Rocks on the right with Bridalveil Fall.

Just past this spot the Valley suddenly widens with the Cathedral Spires, then the pointed obelisk of Sentinel Rock to the south.

They combine at the base of the gorges that contain each stream, and then flow around the Happy Isles to meet Tenaya Creek at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley proper.

The last stand of Lake Yosemite was about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) long and was impounded by a terminal moraine near the base of El Capitan.

At the most general level, the valley can be classified as a dry yellow pine forest with a number of large open meadows.

Plant and animal species that make up a significant part of this natural community include: Yosemite National Park had a record number of 5 million visitors in 2016.

At the time of first European contact, this band was led by Chief Tenaya (Teneiya), who was raised by his mother among the Mono Lake Paiutes.

The first non-Native Americans to see Yosemite Valley were probably members of the 1833 Joseph Walker Party, which was the first to cross the Sierra Nevada from east to west.

[16] This and other missions (the Mariposa Wars) resulted in Chief Teneiya and the Awaneechee spending months on a reservation in the San Joaquin Valley.

While the members of that first expedition of the Mariposa Battalion had heard rumors of what could be found up the Merced River, none were prepared for what they saw March 27, 1851, from what is now called Old Inspiration Point (close to the better-visited Tunnel View).

Dr. Lafayette Bunnell later wrote: The grandeur of the scene was but softened by the haze that hung over the valley – light as gossamer – and by the clouds which partially dimmed the higher cliffs and mountains.

This obscurity of vision but increased the awe with which I beheld it, and as I looked, a peculiar exalted sensation seemed to fill my whole being, and I found my eyes in tears with emotion.

[17]Camping that night on the Valley floor, the group agreed with the suggestion of Dr. Bunnell to call it "Yo-sem-i-ty", mistakenly believing that was the native name.

[18] The term is from the Southern Sierra Miwok word Yohhe'meti, meaning "they are killers," which referred to Savage and the Mariposa Battalion.

[21] Ayres' highly detailed angularly exaggerated artwork and his written accounts were distributed nationally and an art exhibition of his drawings was held in New York City.

Two of Hutchings' first group of tourists, Milton and Houston Mann, built the first toll route into the valley, with the development of the first hotels in the area and other trails quickly following.

[citation needed] Many of the early pioneers in the valley of European descent, and a few Native Americans, are buried in Yosemite Cemetery.

[23] Influential figures such as Galen Clark, clergyman Thomas Starr King and leading landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted were among those who urged Senator John Conness of California to try to preserve Yosemite.

[24] President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill on June 30, 1864, granting Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias to the State of California "for public use, resort and recreation," the two tracts "shall be inalienable for all time".

Due to the difficulty of traveling there, early visitors to the valley came for several weeks to a couple of months, often as entire families with many possessions.

On July 6, 1996, a massive rock slide, weighing an estimated 60,000–80,000 tons, crashed 1,800 feet (550 m) into the valley from the east side of Glacier Point, traveling at over 160 mph (260 km/h).