Yosemite West, California Yosemite West, California Yosemite West is an unincorporated community of resort homes located just outside the southern area of Yosemite National Park, just off Wawona Road, a continuation of State Route 41 from Fresno. It is situated south of the Chinquapin intersection of Wawona Road with Glacier Point Road at an altitude of . The elevation reported by the USGS is . The community is part of Henness Ridge, nearly above the southern banks of the Merced River and State Route 140 from Mariposa. As early as 1912 the cutting of timber in the Chinquapin area was started and logs
Yosemite National Park that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached during the early glacial episode. The downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today. The name "Yosemite" (meaning "killer" in Miwok) originally referred to the name of a renegade tribe which was driven out of the area (and possibly annihilated) by the Mariposa Battalion. Previously, the area had been called "Ahwahnee" ("big mouth") by indigenous people. Yosemite Valley has been inhabited for nearly 3,000 years, though humans may have first visited the