To Yosemite…And Beyond!

Thu, Apr 8, 2010

Today National Geographic and local partners reveal a unique and interactive way to explore Yosemite National Park: The
Yosemite Gateway MapGuide. NG worked
with the Sierra Business Council and Sierra Nevada Conservancy to
gather area residents’ secrets–more than 800 of the best places to visit off-the-beaten tourist path. The
MapGuide points out “one-of-a-kind coffeehouses” and deserted historic sites
otherwise undetected by folks visiting the usual spots like Kings Canyon and
Lassen Volcanic National Park or Lake Tahoe.

Take your status from tourist to geotourist when you visit spots like the “oldest continuously
family-owned and operated farm in the area,” Larsen Apple Barn, or relax at the
Yosemite Bug Mountain Resort & Spa, affectionately known as “the Bug” by
regulars. The WebMap has
features that allow you to tell your friends–via Twitter or Facebook–what
you’ve discovered. You can comment,
suggest, and add content to the “living and breathing, constantly being updated”
map after you’ve seen the place for yourself.

Project directors divided the 400-mile-long Sierra Nevada
region into four parts; the Yosemite Gateway MapGuide is the first of four, so
stay tuned for the next guide to the Tahoe Emigrant Corridor area of the Sierra
Nevada due out this summer.

Also, be sure to check out the other geotourism MapGuides
from National Geographic for California’s Redwood Coast, Central Cascades, Montreal,
Greater Yellowstone, Crown of the
Continent, Sonora Desert,
Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, Appalachia, to name a few.