For many, sunny California is associated with sandy beaches and palm trees. We are ready to push these stereotypes.

In 1891, the famous American conservationist John Muir wrote: “In the vast expanses of wildlife of the Sierra Nevada, located to the south of the famous Yosemite, there is an even more majestic valley of the same plan.” This area is now known as Sequoia National Park. The giant sequoia is one of the main attractions of the state of California. Every year people travel here from many parts of the world to see with their own eyes the giant trees, the tallest on Earth. Sequoia National Park is the first in California and the second in the United States after Yosemite National Park. With over one million visitors annually, the park has become a popular tourist destination. Tall giant sequoias and beautiful mountain scenery, streams and flowering meadows made it a wonderful place to relax.

Yosemite Valley was formed by glaciers carving their way along the bed of the Merced River: the ice scraped soft granite, leaving vertical walls of towering rocks.The lake formed as a result of the melting of glaciers eventually silted and formed the valley we see today. Nowhere in the state will you find more beautiful scenery than Yosemite National Park. Few corners of our planet have so many famous and beautiful sights as Yosemite. The landscapes here change dramatically from one kilometer to the next. Rivers flow in the middle of mountain meadows. Falling into deep gorges, they turn into tall and noisy waterfalls. Having reached the valleys, the waterfalls turn into wide and shallow rivers. Granite rocks and giant sequoias of Yosemite are gaining worldwide fame.

It is the seventh, highest waterfall in the world (739 m) and one of the largest monoliths in North America. The variety of natural landscapes and other attractions make Yosemite one of the most beautiful natural corners of America, thanks to which it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1984.