HETCH HETCHY

Should you find yourself in the northwest corner of the park, take the drive into Hetch Hetchy. It’s a beautiful valley, flooded into a reservoir in 1923—with the construction of the O’Shaughnessy Dam—to supply water to the Bay Area (a controversy to this day). Photos of the Hetch Hetchy valley before the construction of the dam show its remarkable resemblance to the Yosemite Valley, with granite walls, waterfalls, forest-lined meadows and the Tuolumne River flowing through. More than 250 miles of hiking trails exist within the Hetch Hetchy area, ranging from the 2-mile round-trip trek to Lookout Point to a 29-mile multiday excursion on the Laurel/Vernon/Rancheria Loop. The Rancheria, Tueeulala and Wapama falls are all flowing now. Wilderness permits are required for all overnight hikes. Along the road to Hetch Hetchy, the 100-yearold Evergreen Lodge has 88 cabins in the woods and, like its sister property Rush Creek Lodge, maintains a restaurant, tavern and general store.