The Cathedral Range is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

immediately to the south of

Tuolumne Meadows Tuolumne Meadows () is a gentle, dome-studded, sub-alpine meadow area along the Tuolumne River in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park in the United States. Its approximate location is . Its approximate elevation is . The term ''Tuolumn ...

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

. The range is an offshoot of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

. The range is named after Cathedral Peak, which resembles a

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

spire.

Geography

The range includes Cathedral Peak, Unicorn Peak, Eichorn Pinnacle, Echo Peaks, Echo Ridge,

Matthes Crest Matthes Crest is an approximately mile-long fin of rock with two summits separated by a deep notch. It is a part of the Cathedral Range, which is a mountain range in the south-central portion of Yosemite National Park. The range is part of the S ...

Rafferty Peak Rafferty Peak is an mountain summit located in Yosemite National Park, in California, United States. It is situated on the common border shared by Mariposa County, California, Mariposa and Tuolumne County, California, Tuolumne Counties. It is ...

, Vogelsang Peak, Fletcher Peak and Cockscomb. The highest point in the range is Mount Florence, one of the most prominent peaks in the Yosemite high country. The highest peak in

is Johnson Peak. The range runs beside the two Cathedral Lakes, just one mile southwest of Cathedral Peak. Hikers can access the lakes and Cathedral range by the

John Muir trail The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, Kings Canyon National Park, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, Se ...

from the trailhead in

Geology

The mountains were formed by

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s carving out the

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

material; also see

Cathedral Peak Granodiorite The Cathedral Peak Granodiorite (CPG) was named after its type locality, Cathedral Peak in Yosemite National Park, California. The granodiorite forms part of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite (Tuolumne Batholith), one of the four major intrusive sui ...

. The tops of the peaks in the range were above the level of the highest glaciation, and are therefore un-eroded and distinctly spire-like; see

nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit language, Inuit ) is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They often form natural pyramidal peaks. Isolated nunataks are also cal ...

References

Landforms of Yosemite National Park Mountain ranges of Madera County, California Mountain ranges of Tuolumne County, California Mountain ranges of Mariposa County, California Mountain ranges of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Mountain ranges of Northern California {{Yosemite-stub