Yosemite and Beyond - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 172

The largest subalpine meadow in the Sierra Nevada, Tuolumne Meadows is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
21. Tuolumne Meadows
As Tioga Road ascends from Tenaya Lake, it heads east past Medlicott Dome, Fairview
Dome, and other granite peaks that boldly protrude from forests of hemlock and pine. At
about 8,600 feet above sea level, the drive reaches Tuolumne Meadows, the largest sub-
alpine meadow in the Sierra Nevada, where rolling grassland provides a pleasing contrast
to the greatest concentration of granite domes in the world. In summer the gray domes act
as a backdrop for the blazing palette of wildflowers that carpets the meadows. Numerous
ponds and streams attract mule deer, black bears, coyotes, and other wildlife, including the
water ouzel, a wrenlike bird that walks underwater on the bottoms of streams to look for
food.
Inlate October,themating seasonofbighornsheep,theserenity oftheTuolumne land-
scape is occasionally pierced by the cracking sound of rams butting their heads together in