Yosemite National Park

A Park Guide for Ages 4 to 12
It’s Your Park

Welcome to Yosemite National Park! Each year millions of people like you come from all over the 

world to visit this World Heritage Site. Yosemite became a park in 1864 so people could experience 

the unique things found here. Today, there are protected public lands all over the world.

Much of the information on pages 4 and 5 of this handbook can apply to just about any park you visit.

Name a park you like to visit near your home.

Circle or write some things you like to do there.

2

Hike

Picnic

Bike

Fish

Sports Draw your own.
How to Become a

Yosemite Junior Ranger 

Yosemite is proud to welcome Junior Rangers of all abilities. 

To become a Junior Ranger, take this guide with you as you 

travel around the park and complete the activities that are 

the best fit for you. A free guide with activities adapted for kids 

with diverse communication, learning, motor, and/or sensory 

needs can be found by searching for “Junior Ranger” at 

nps.gov/yose. When you’re done, share your booklet with 

a park ranger at any visitor center to receive your badge.

Ages 4 to 7

Complete five activities. 

Ages 8 to 12

Complete seven activities. 

All Junior Rangers need to attend a guided program. 

Be sure to introduce yourself to your guide!

NAME OF PROGRAM

DATE

GUIDE SIGNATURE

3

Inside! 

Learn more 

ranger skills from 

Ranger Squirrel.
Do Your Part

Junior Rangers are stewards. That means you pledge to care for and protect all 

the wonders in our national parks. Now that you are on the path to becoming a 

Junior Ranger, it’s time to practice being safe, smart, and kind.

Take action! One way to protect Yosemite is to learn and practice the skills of 

Leave No Trace. Check each box as you read about the skills here. Watch other 

people in Yosemite today and spot someone who is following Leave No Trace. 

Share your observation with your group.

Find and circle the Junior Rangers who are keeping Yosemite and themselves safe.

Know Before You Go.

Be prepared! Before you head out for a 

day in the park, make a plan. Check the 

weather, wear the right shoes and 

clothing, and pack your map. 

Choose the Right Path.

Stay safe and protect Yosemite’s plants 

and animals by traveling only on 

marked paths, and pay attention to 

ranger instructions and signs. 

Trash Your Trash.

Put garbage, even crumbs, in the correct 

bins: trash or recycling. If you need to go 

to the bathroom in the great outdoors, 

bury poop in a small hole eight inches 

deep and a hundred big steps from water. 

Place your toilet paper in a plastic bag 

and put the bag in a garbage can.

4
Leave What You Find.

Want to take a pine cone or flower 

home with you? Take a picture instead. 

Keep Yosemite healthy and beautiful for 

everyone by leaving all natural things 

where you found them.

Be Careful with Fire.

Never play with fire, and enjoy campfires 

only in designated areas. Be sure to put 

out fires completely with water, not dirt. 

Respect Wildlife.

The best way to take care of Yosemite’s 

animals is to let them stay wild. Keep your 

distance and don’t try to feed them or let 

them get into your food.

Be Kind to Other Visitors.

Share trails with other hikers and use 

quiet voices so everyone can hear and 

enjoy the natural sounds of Yosemite. 

© 1999 by the Leave No Trace Center 

for Outdoor Ethics: www.LNT.org

5
Discover Yosemite

Yosemite is filled with natural wonders like meadows, mountain slopes, sequoia groves, 

and star-filled night skies. Use your senses to discover Yosemite.

Stand quietly on a trail and close your eyes. What do you hear?

Touch the bark of a tree or a granite boulder. How does it feel?

Smell the air in a meadow or grove, or the bark of a tree. What does it smell like?

Look closely at a wildflower or plant. (Remember not to pick it.) What do the leaves look 

like? Are the stems long or short? How many petals does the flower have?

Look up at the night sky. What do you see? 

Move like a tree branch in the breeze.

After using all my senses, I wonder: 

6

azalea lupine

monkey flower

Steller’s 

jay

Sierra 

shooting star

butterfly

granite oak
Trail Trackers

Choose a trail to explore with your family. While you are hiking, keep an eye out for signs of 

wildlife. Take photos to help you remember. When you’re finished, answer these questions:

Name of trail: 

How was this hike different from a walk around your neighborhood?

What signs of animals did you find?

What story can you tell based on the wildlife clues you found? 

7

hive

web

woodpecker

holes

anthill tracks

bear 

claw

marks

burrow

nest

feather

scat

Be a Ranger

Rangers know you should always be far 

enough away from an animal that you can 

hide the whole animal behind your thumb. 

Copy this Junior Ranger to stay safe around wildlife.
8

Nature’s Neighborhoods

Yosemite’s ecosystems are home to special combinations of plants and animals that make 

these places look, feel, and smell different. Rain and snowfall, elevation, and temperature 

all influence what lives there. Many plants and animals live in more than one ecosystem. 

You can’t always put nature into tidy categories!

Your Special Place

Find a place in Yosemite that you love. What makes this spot special to you? 

Make a drawing of your special place.

sugar 

pine

phlox

black oak

coyote

acorn

woodpecker

tree frog

California

poppy striped skunk

manzanita
As you explore the park, you might visit 

several ecosystems. Circle the symbols 

that capture your experiences in each one.

Visited Wildlife Heard natural 

sounds

Cold Saw signs 

of forest fire

Hot

9

Alpine Zone

9,500 feet elevation and above

LOCATIONS TO VISIT

Mount Hoffmann, Mount Dana

Subalpine Forest

8,000 to 9,500 feet elevation

LOCATIONS TO VISIT

Olmsted Point, Tuolumne Meadows

Upper Montane Forest

6,000 to 8,000 feet elevation

LOCATIONS TO VISIT

Big Oak Flat, Glacier Point, 

Crane Flat, North Dome

Lower Montane Forest

3,000 to 6,000 feet elevation

LOCATIONS TO VISIT

Yosemite Valley, Wawona, 

Mariposa Grove, Tuolumne Grove, 

Merced Grove

Foothill Woodland 

& Chaparral Zones

1,000 to 3,000 feet elevation

LOCATIONS TO VISIT

Gateway towns of Mariposa or Oakhurst

pika

sky pilot

lodgepole

pine

marmot

Clark’s hemlock

nutcracker

whitebark 

monkey pine

flower Jeffrey pine

black bear

mountain

dogwood giant

sequoia

mule deer

Douglas

squirrel

ponderosa

pine

bobcat

canyon live oak
The Wild Ones

Yosemite National Park is home to more than three hundred American 

black bears. It is special to see a bear and admire its wild ways.

Most of Yosemite’s black bears actually have brown fur.

10

acorn

grass

ant

berries

These bears mainly eat berries, grasses, acorns, and insects. 

In the fall, before bears hibernate, they eat twenty thousand 

calories every day—that’s like eating sixty peanut butter and 

jelly sandwiches!

Bears will eat human food too and can learn to take food from 

people. If a bear comes toward you, teach it that you won’t give 

it food by waving your arms and yelling “Go away, bear!”

Learn more about how to “Keep Bears Wild” in the 

Yosemite Guide, on picnic tables, or at the Yosemite Valley 

Visitor Center.

Be a Ranger

This time, be a bear! Can you see food through the 

windows of your car? Help your family keep bears 

safe by making sure that no food or drinks are visible 

during the day and are stored in a bear box at night.
Help this bear find wild foods on the way to its den, then tell the story of this bear.

11
Giant Sequoias

Giant sequoia trees grow in only one region in the world: the western slope of 

the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Yosemite has three groves of these 

incredible trees. One of the trees in the park, called the Grizzly Giant, is nearly 

two thousand years old and stands 209 feet (64 meters) tall.

Find a giant 

sequoia tree in 

the Mariposa, 

Tuolumne, 

or Merced 

Groves.

Lie down on 

your back in 

a safe place 

and look up. 

Write about 

or draw your 

experience.

You can tell how many years a tree has lived by looking 

at a cross section of the trunk and counting the rings. 

In this picture, each light space equals one year. 

 How old is this tree? 

 Color in the number of 

rings that represents 

your age.

12
Forest Life

Fires are an important part of the forest life cycle. Every summer, 

lightning starts forest fires in Yosemite, and sometimes specially 

trained park rangers will use a managed fire to keep an area healthy.

In giant sequoia forests, fire makes the cones pop open and release their 

seeds. In other parts of Yosemite, small, frequent fires keep the forest 

floor full of light, which helps wildflowers and grasses grow.

Yosemite’s meadows depend on small fires to keep out shrubs and trees. Native people 

in Yosemite have always used fire to keep meadows and black oak trees healthy.

California is in a long-term drought with higher temperatures and less rain and snow. 

Droughts can make fires hot and huge by causing trees to die. There are millions of 

dead trees in the Sierra Nevada mountain range that are fuel for fires and can turn 

a healthy forest fire into a dangerous one. Yosemite has had both kinds of fires.

Find a place in 

Yosemite that 

has burned. 

Hint: look for 

blackened 

tree trunks. 

Describe or 

draw what 

you see. 

Be a Ranger

Rangers watch the weather. 

How likely are you to see 

rain today?

13
Meadows

Meadows are full of life. They are home to many different 

plants and animals. A healthy meadow is like a sponge—it 

holds water both on top of and under the ground, which 

makes it a great place for water-loving plants to live. A 

meadow also works as a natural filter, keeping water clean.

Climate change and humans’ actions, such as walking on 

delicate meadow grasses, have caused Yosemite’s meadows 

to become drier. Now park scientists must figure out how to 

make the park’s meadows healthy again. One way they do 

this is by using managed fires to remove plants that will 

take away too much water from the meadows.

Be a Ranger

Rangers make 

observations about 

nature. Meadows 

are found throughout 

Yosemite, from Tuolumne Meadows 

to Yosemite Valley to Wawona. 

From a trail or boardwalk, stick 

your finger into the meadow soil. 

What does it feel like? 

nest

14

oak

den

burrows milkweed wetland

Draw a line to the 

place each animal 

could find a home in 

a meadow.

monarch

butterfly

red-legged

frog

acorn

woodpecker

coyote red-tailed

hawk

pocket

gopher
A River of Stars 1

6

2

4

3

5

Cepheus 

(King)

3

5

4

2 1

Cygnus 

(The Swan)

1

2

3

6

5

4

Lyra 

(The Lyre)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Ursa Minor

(The Little Bear)

1

6

7 8

9

10

11

12

2

3

4

5

13

14

15

16

17

Draco

(The Dragon)

1

2

3

4

7

6

5

8

Ursa Major

(The Great Bear)

Humans and animals all share the same 

moon and stars.

Yosemite’s night skies are very dark, 

making this a great place to enjoy views 

of our Milky Way galaxy or to look for 

patterns of stars called constellations. 

Maybe you’ll see something tonight that 

you’ve never seen before!

These are some constellations you might 

see in Yosemite. Connect the dots to help 

you identify them once the sun goes down.

15

Draw a nighttime memory.
16

Yosemite Is Home

Native people have lived around Yosemite and 

its valley for thousands of years. Native people 

still live here, and they belong to the Seven 

Traditionally Associated Tribes of Yosemite 

National Park. Members of the seven tribes work 

closely with rangers to ensure that the land 

is respected. Their deep ties to Yosemite are 

strengthened through seasonal celebrations in 

the park, educational youth projects, and each 

group’s yearly Traditional Walk, which honors the 

tradition of their elders in crossing from one side 

of the mountains to the other. 

While they have their own languages (shown by 

the words of greeting, below) and their own ways, 

the Native people here have always had much 

in common, including the use of fire to keep the 

land healthy and the harvesting of acorns as an 

important food.

Long ago, people from faraway countries brought 

diseases and harsh treatment to California. Then 

the gold rush drew thousands of people to 

Yosemite. They took the land and sent the Native 

people away. 

But the Native people from this area persisted 

and are still here today. As you explore Yosemite, 

you are sharing their homeland.

Bishop Paiute Tribe

Manahu! I’m helping 

restore a meadow.  

Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation

Michəksəsəə! This year, I get 

to go on a Traditional Walk! 

North Fork Rancheria of 

Mono Indians of California

Munahoo! I’m going to 

see the Grizzly Giant.
17

Visit the village 

behind the 

Yosemite Valley 

Museum and look 

for the roundhouse 

building that 

the Traditionally 

Associated Tribes 

of Yosemite still 

use today for 

ceremonies. Once 

you’ve located it, 

finish drawing 

the building.

Mono Lake 

Kootzaduka’a Tribe

How U! I’m going to 

climb Lembert Dome.

Bridgeport Indian Colony

Howni’ u! I’m finding 

out more about how my 

relatives lived here.

Picayune Rancheria of 

the Chukchansi Indians

Hi-le! I’m learning to 

weave using red bud.

Tuolumne Band of

 Me-Wuk Indians

M.Chucksus! I’m 

feeling the spray at 

Bridalveil Fall.
Faces of Yosemite

Many different people have played an important role in making Yosemite what it is today. 

Yosemite was first home to and cared for by Native people. Artists, businesspeople, 

rangers, laborers, scientists, athletes, and visitors have played a role in Yosemite’s history.

All the people on this page have done something special here. Solve each riddle, then 

draw a line from the riddle to the person it matches.

Tie Sing Shelton Johnson George Melendez Wright

I learned on closer inspection

Yosemite had Buffalo Soldier 

protection.

Through some living history

I help visitors of color to see

that this park has a family 

connection.

I free-climbed El Capitan’s Nose. 

Three thousand feet up—boys, 

it goes! 

Then to affirm my athletic power 

I climbed it in just twenty-three 

hours.

Years later I still hear the bravos! 

When politicians camped here 

in splendor,

I cooked wilderness biscuits so 

tender 

that with full tummies, in bliss, 

they cried “Let’s protect this!” 

and became Yosemite defenders. 

18
Be a 

Ranger

Rangers 

know that 

anyone can 

make history. Now you 

have a story here too! 

Draw yourself in Yosemite. 

Lynn Hill Julia Parker John Muir

I learned to weave baskets from 

elders and kin 

and to tell tales of how Yosemite’s 

been.   

Sharing craft and tradition   

was for decades my mission,   

and this art was my listeners’ win. 

Through wild places often I’d 

wander,

then I wrote that they should be 

honored.

My work helped lay the foundation

for saving lands for generations.

Now I’m known as the national 

parks’ father. 

I was a scientific activist 

who studied park animal practices. 

I showed managers of wildlife 

how to treat wild creatures right 

so as to become nature’s 

advocates. 

19
Water on the Move

The water in your drink went on a long adventure before it 

splashed into your cup. Most of the water in California starts 

as snow in the mountains. In the spring, snow melts and flows 

downhill on its way to the Pacific Ocean. It naturally filters 

through rock and soil to produce clean water that creates 

healthy habitats for plants and animals and is also used to grow 

crops and provide drinking water for people. San Francisco 

gets 85 percent of its water from the Tuolumne River.

20

Mount Lyell

Nevada Fall

Vernal Fall

Bridalveil Fall

Yosemite

Valley

Merced River

Watch some water. 

Draw water 

designs that you 

see, such as ripples 

or water flowing 

around a rock. 
A watershed is an area of land that channels water from the 

mountains into streams and rivers. A raindrop or snowflake in 

Yosemite will eventually flow across the land into either the 

Tuolumne or Merced Rivers. Because Yosemite is protected, 

these watersheds are too.

Slowly melting snow keeps water flowing in Yosemite Falls and 

other falls around the park throughout much of the year. When 

the waterfalls are dry, it means last year’s snow has all melted. 

21

Central Valley

San Joaquin 

River

foothills

Pacific

Ocean delta San 

Francisco 

Bay

Sacramento River

Be a Ranger

Rangers drink water to stay healthy. 

Fill your water bottle in a faucet or filling 

station and take a sip right now. You are 

tasting clean water from Yosemite’s rivers.
22

glacier

Geology is the study of the earth and its rocks. 

Yosemite’s rocks have lots of stories to tell. Formed deep 

under the ground, all the rock you see was once magma. 

As the Sierra Nevada mountains formed below the 

surface of the earth, magma slowly rose up and cooled 

into granite.

Along came rivers that slowly cut the beginnings of 

the valleys. Then massive sheets of ice called glaciers 

bulldozed their way downhill for many thousands of years 

to erode Yosemite into what you see today. Yosemite 

Valley’s distinct U shape is evidence of these glaciers. 

Water erosion, ice, and rockfall all continue to shape the 

land. Yosemite changes every day!

No matter where you are in Yosemite, you are touching 

and looking at geology. Mark off each geologic feature 

you see in the park until you have three-in-a-row bingo!

Geology Rocks!

Be a 

Ranger

Rangers look 

closely at nature.

Pick up a rock.

How many of the 

four minerals that

are common in 

Yosemite’s granite 

do you see?

Quartz

clear or white

Mica

shiny dark sheets

Feldspar

light color, tannish 

white or pink, 

opaque

Hornblende

dark or black 

crystals

Leave the rock where you found it so others 

can learn about geology too!
cliff dome erosion

rockfall U-shaped valley waterfall

granite sand boulder

23
 YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

Junior Ranger Certificate

As a Yosemite Junior Ranger, I will continue to learn about, explore, 

and protect Yosemite as well as other historic and wild places. 

NAME

DATE

RANGER SIGNATURE

Have a member of your group take a video of you holding your book and telling us 

“My favorite part of my visit to Yosemite is...” 

If your family uses social media, you can share it with the hashtag 

#YosemiteJuniorRanger and see what other Junior Rangers love about Yosemite too!

Text provided by Laura Goforth and Anastasia Roy of 

the National Park Service in Yosemite

Riddle text by Shirin Yim Leos and Nicole Geiger

Illustrations by Stefi Lacy

Design and art direction by Eric Ball Design

Illustration and layout copyright © 2021 by Yosemite Conservancy

Published in the United States by Yosemite Conservancy. 

No protected portion of this work may be reproduced or transmitted 

in any form without the written permission of the publisher.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 – 26 25 24 23 22 21

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Printed in the USA by Jostens, Inc. 

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