About the Area
High elevation lakes defined by towering conifers, deeply carved river valleys and huge granite monoliths describe the Sierra National Forest and epitomize mountain California landscapes.
Extreme elevation changes provide diverse vegetation from grasslands to sub-alpine meadows. The Sierra NF is the gateway to the Sierra Nevada including the intensely visited Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. Nearly 50% of the Forest is Wilderness offering solitude and vast open space as part of one of the largest contiguous blocks of wilderness in the continental United States. Outfitter-guides help provide quality recreational experiences.
Explore the Forest
Viewing Nature
Sierra National Forest is a wonderful place to visit any time of year, but fall is especially nice for a number of reasons. Fall colors and few crowds make for a wonderful and relaxing time of year.
In general, fall in the Sierra National Forest lasts from the end of September until late November, depending on elevation.
Like all natural events, fall depends on local climatic conditions. The amount of rainfall and the nighttime temperatures both play important roles in determining fall colors.
The Sierra National Forest has several species of trees and shrubs that begin to change color at this time of year. These include oaks, cottonwood, willows and shrubs at the lower elevations, dogwoods at the mid elevations and aspen at the higher elevations.
The lower elevations of the Sierra National Forest are brilliant with wildflowers - this year's rains have produced a phenomenal bloom! Currently some of the earliest wildflowers such as popcorn flower and fiddleneck are fading out, yielding to a more colorful mix including bird's eye gilia, purple owl's clover, Indian pink, western wallflower, Chinese houses, goldfields, madia, and many, many more. The major river canyons are great places to go right now:
If you drive up the Kings River along Trimmer Springs Road along the north shore of Pine Flat Reservoir, you'll see bright orange poppies, purple and white lupines, red maids, baby blue eyes, pretty faces, miner's lettuce, as well as a host of other wildflowers. The Big Creek Road (Forest Road 9) is a good place to view flowers, or you can continue eastward to the Bear Wallow Trail (just be aware there will be traffic associated with whitewater rafting permittees along the narrow dirt road).
The San Joaquin River Canyon is gorgeous right now between Auberry and North Fork. Unusually dense stands of purple owl's clover are especially notable. Fiesta flower, Chinese houses, woodland star, and madia are thriving this year. The Horseshoe Bend Trail should be good for hiking and wildflower viewing (access is from Madera County Road 225 - see Forest Recreation Map for trailhead location).
The Merced River Canyon is famous for its spring bloom, especially the Hite Cove Trail along the South Fork Merced River. Bright orange foothill poppies, purple owl's clover, blue dicks, lupine, and baby blue eyes are just a few of the many wildflowers found along this famous trail.
Wildlife is active on the forest all year round and there are many opportunities to view them as they go about their daily lives.
During winter months you will see the presence of animals in the snow. Look for telltale signs of their presence (i.e. feathers on top of the snow, or tracks). Here is a list of species you might see:
- Bald Eagles - spend the winter at lakes which do not freeze over
- Bobcats - can be seen in the 1,000 to 7,500 ft. elevation range
- Snowshoe Hare - can be seen in the 5,500 to 12,000 ft. elevation range
- Marten - can be seen in the 4,000 to 12,00 ft. elevation range
- Gray Fox - can be seen in the 4,000 to 9,000 ft. elevation range
- Common Raven - can be seen almost anywhere
- Clark's Nutcracker - can be seen above 8,000 ft. in elevation
- Mountain Chickadee - can be seen in the 4,000 to 9,000 ft. elevation range
- Mountain Beaver - can be seen near mountain streams in 5,000 to 8,500 ft. elevation range
- Western Gray Squirrel - can be seen in the 1,000 to 7,000 ft. elevation range
Please be respectable of animals and their habitat. Do not chase or try to feed them.
The Sierra National Forest (SNF) exhibits diverse and distinctive landscape qualities highly suited to scenic appreciation. The SNF National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) report in 2003 determined that 31.9 percent of those who visited the forest participated in viewing natural features such as scenery, flowers, etc. and 13.2 percent participated in driving for pleasure on roads. The SNF NVUM report in 2008 shows an increase in scenery appreciation with 51.3 percent of forest visitors participating in viewing natural features such as scenery (a 19.4 percent increase from 2003) and 13.6 percent participating in driving for pleasure (a 0.4 percent increase from 2003).
Few National Forests offer the range of scenic attractions found in the SNF. The Forest landscape is quite diverse, ranging from steeply rolling chaparral and grass-woodland foothills to barren windswept crags on the Sierra Crest. The mid-elevations are characterized by steep-walled river canyons interspersed with gentler highly productive heavily forested areas. At the high elevations the knife-edged ridges, sharp peaks and steep-walled basins, frequently containing lakes, owe their form to the abrading action of glaciers. The steep-walled canyons and rolling topography of the lower elevations developed through water and wind erosion. Landscapes with the greatest variety of landforms, water features and vegetation are considered to be the most attractive.