Two federally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers, the Merced and the Tuolumne, begin within Yosemite's borders and flow westward through the Sierra foothills, into the Central Valley of California.
Tri območja divjine so v bližini Yosemite: Ansel Adams Wilderness na jugovzhodu, Hoover Wilderness na severovzhodu in Emigrant Wilderness na severu.