Crowds of people on Yosemite National Park's Lower Fall Trail on June 26, 2021. (David Rodriguez Sanchez/Dreamstime/TNS) From California Rock, 1,100 feet above Yosemite Valley, the crown jewel of America's beloved national parks spreads out beneath you. The jaw-dropping north face of 8,800-foot Half Dome towers to the east. The silky green ribbon of the Merced River meanders through the valley floor below, astonishingly lush during the spring snow melt.