Origin of Name

• John Muir thought the mountains should have been named The Range of Light.sierra nevada 01c image by Paco Ayala from Fotolia.com
  
  In Spanish, Sierra Nevada means "snowy range." In 1542, explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo gave the mountains their name.
  
  

Location

• Sequoia National Park is one of the parks in Sierra Nevada Mountains.Redwoods image by Towards Ithaca from Fotolia.com
  
  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.
  
  

Famous Features

• Half Dome is Yosemite's best-known rock formation.mountain at yosemite valley image by Yevgeniy Zateychuk from Fotolia.com
  
  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.
  
  

Weather

• 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.