Yosemite National Park and ponds, of streams, of hiking trails, and of roads. Two federally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers, the Merced and the Tuolumne, begin within Yosemite's borders and flow westward through the Sierra foothills, into the Central Valley of California. On average, about 4 million people visit the park each year, with most visitor use concentrated in the seven-square-mile (18 km) area of Yosemite Valley. Almost all of the landforms in the Yosemite area are cut from the granitic rock of the Sierra Nevada Batholith (a batholith is a large mass of intrusive igneous rock that formed deep below the surface).
History of the Yosemite area park over the summer of 1970, triggering a riot on July 4 after rangers tried to evict visitors from camping illegally in Stoneman Meadow. Rioters attacked the rangers with rocks, and pulled mounted rangers from their horses. The National Guard was brought in to restore order. The Yosemite Park and Curry Company was bought by Music Corporation of America (MCA) in 1973. In 1988, concessionaires brought in $500 million ($ as of 2019), and paid the federal government $12.5 million ($ as of 2019) for the franchise. Delaware North Companies became the primary concessionaire for Yosemite in 1992. The agreement