Blog: Floating the Wild and Scenic Tuolumne River
At over 13,000 feet high, the Tuolumne River begins in Yosemite National Park at Mount Lyell and Mount Dana, traveling 149 miles downstream before reaching its confluence with the San Joaquin River, just 50 feet above sea-level. The Tuolumne is designated as a Wild and Scenic River and is protected as such under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Throughout the US, this Act protects over 14,000 miles of rivers selected for their remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, or other similar values. The Wild and Scenic Tuolumne River feels just that – wild and scenic – and yet I was surprised to learn that it is constrained on both sides by two large scale reservoir systems.