The vast
interior
of California is split down the middle by the
Sierra Nevada
(Spanish for "snowy range"), or High Sierra, a sawtooth range of snow-capped peaks that stands high above the semi-desert of the Owens Valley. The wide
Central Valley
(aka the San Joaquin Valley) in the west was made super-fertile by irrigation projects during the 1940s, and is now almost totally agricultural. Even if the nightlife begins and ends with the local ice-cream parlor, after the big cities of the coast it can all be quite refreshing. However, the real reason to come here is to reach the
national parks
of
Sequoia
and
Kings Canyon
- whose huge trees form the centerpiece of a rich natural landscape - and
Yosemite
, where towering walls of silvery granite are invigorated by waterfalls. Few roads penetrate the hundred miles of wilderness to the east, but the entire region is crisscrossed by hiking trails leading up into the pristine alpine backcountry.
The arrow-straight I-5 barrels straight up from LA to San Francisco. Four daily
trains
and frequent Greyhound
buses
run through the valley, calling at the towns along Hwy-99, in particular Merced, which has bus connections to Yosemite but otherwise doesn't merit a look-in.
Copyright Rough Guides Ltd as trustee for its authors. Published by Rough Guides. All rights reserved. The Rough Guides name is a trademark of Rough Guides Ltd.
Copyright © 2006 United States.biz
