Places in the context, with photos from places I’ve visited.
Parks, monuments, refuges.
Death Valley National Park– at over 3.4 million acres, the largest national park outside of Alaska.
Mojave National Preserve– 1.6 million acres, the 3rd largest unit of the national park system in the contiguous U.S.
Mojave Trails National Monument– 1.6 million acres, on the south side of Mojave National Preserve. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Yosemite National Park– just under 760,000 acres, it is centered around the glacial Yosemite Valley.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks— Administered as one park. Sequoia NP (404,064 acres) includes the biggest giant sequoia, General Sherman, and the tallest peak in the contiguous U.S, Mt. Whitney (14,505). Kings Canyon NP (461,901 acres) is centered on another glacial valley in the western Sierras. Originally named General Grant National Park.
Sequoia National Monument (328,000 acres) brackets Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP on the north and south. It includes 38 of the 39 giant sequoia groves in the Sequoia National Forest, about half of the total number.
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (23,000 acres) is a remarkable Mojave Desert oasis. Home to 26 endemic species, the highest concentration in the U.S. A lot of pupfish.
Devil’s Postpile National Monument
Manzanar National Historic Site
Mono Basin National Scenic Area— Protected area that surrounds Mono Lake
Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve