Events Celebrate Yosemite History

Three Events in Yosemite National Park on Thursday, June 17: Celebrating Wawona´s History and Future.

Yosemite National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, UC Merced and DNC Parks and Resorts at Yosemite are celebrating three events in Wawona on Thursday, June 17th.

10:00 a.m. Dedication of the historic Wawona Covered Bridge, south side of the bridge. The Wawona Covered Bridge was built 125 years ago by Galen Clark. The National Park Service has been working to renovate the bridge for the last two years employing traditional methods. As part of the dedication, the popular stagecoach will cross the bridge and the historic preservation staff will be available to explain their work in renovating the bridge. The Pioneer Yosemite History Center (on the north side of the bridge) will be open for visitors.

11:00 a.m. at the UC Merced Yosemite Field Station Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. UC Merced and Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks celebrate the opening of the Yosemite Field Station (second house on left on Chilnualna Falls Road), which will be managed as part of the University´s Sierra Nevada Research Institute. UC Merced and the National Park Service will sign a Memorandum of Understanding renewing the research and education partnership that began in 1999. Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks will serve as living laboratories to the Sierra Nevada Research Institute.

12:00 p.m. Celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the Wawona Hotel, on the hotel lawn. Step back in time and enjoy the leisure of a bygone era on the Wawona Hotel´s lawn with living history interpreters, period music, and games.