American naturalist and author John Muir called the Sierra Nevada mountains "the most divinely beautiful of all the mountain-chains I have ever seen." The Sierra Nevadas are an awe-inspiring mountain range, rising from 11,000 to 14,000 feet high.
In Spanish, Sierra Nevada means "snowy range." In 1542, explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo gave the mountains their name.
The Sierra Nevada Mountains are located on the eastern side of California. The range stretches from the Tehachapi pass in the south up to the Fredonyer Pass in the north. On the east, the mountains are flanked by the Great Basin. On the west lies California's Central Valley. The Sierra Nevadas are 400 miles long and approximately 70 miles wide.
The Sierra Nevadas are home to Lake Tahoe, North America's largest alpine lake. The range contains nine national forests and three national parks, the most famous of which is Yosemite. The tallest peak is Mount Whitney.
When the wind blows a certain way, a large tube of air starts to roll on the southeast side of the mountains. This is called the "Sierra Nevada Rotor" and was the subject of an U.S. Air Force study.
