Ansel Adams Wilderness
| Ansel Adams Wilderness | |
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IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
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| Location | Madera / Fresno / Mono counties, California, USA |
| Nearest city | Fresno, CA |
| Coordinates | 37°41′N 119°11′W / 37.683°N 119.183°WCoordinates: 37°41′N 119°11′W / 37.683°N 119.183°W |
| Area | 231,533 acres (936.98 km2) |
| Created | 1964 |
| Governing body | U.S. Forest Service |
The Ansel Adams Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Sierra Nevada of California, USA. The wilderness is part of the Sierra (majority of the wilderness) and Inyo National Forests. The wilderness spans 231,533 acres (93,698 ha). Yosemite National Park lies to the north and northwest, while the John Muir Wilderness lies to the south.
The wilderness was established as part of the original Wilderness Act in 1964 as the Minarets Wilderness. The 109,500-acre (44,300 ha) Minarets Wilderness was created by enlarging and renaming the Mount Dana-Minarets Primitive Area.
In 1984, after his death, the area was expanded and renamed in honor of Ansel Adams, well-known environmentalist and nature photographer who is famous for his black and white landscape photographs of the Sierra Nevada.
The Ansel Adams wilderness spans in elevation from 3,500 to 13,157 feet (1,067 to 4,010 m), forming the northern end of the High Sierra.
The centerpiece of the Ansel Adams wilderness is the Ritter Range, which includes dark metavolcanic glaciated mountains such as Mount Ritter, Banner Peak, and The Minarets.
Immediately to the east of the Ritter Range is the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River, which contains Devils Postpile, a series of basaltic columns that were revealed and smoothed by glacier action. The Middle Fork originates from Thousand Island Lake, at the foot of Banner Peak, one of the largest backcountry lakes in the Sierra.
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