Sierra Nevada (US)

For the mountain range in Spain see Sierra Nevada (Spain)

The Sierra Nevada (Spanish for "Snowy Range") is a mountain range that is almost entirely in the eastern part of California.

The range started to uplift less than five million years ago.^[1]

The Sierra Nevada stretches 400 miles (650 km), from North to South. It is bounded on the West by California's Central Valley, and on the East by the Great Basin.

Uplift continues, and ground slips make spectacular fault escarpments along the eastern edge of the southern Sierra. The Sierra Nevada is part of the American Cordillera, an almost continuous chain of mountain ranges which make up the western "backbone" of the Americas.

The Sierra Nevada has played an important role in the history of California and the United States. The California Gold Rush occurred in the western foothills from 1848 through 1855.

1. ↑ "Cascade-Sierra Mountains Province (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-12.