About Virtual Yosemite

Virtual Yosemite is a groundbreaking interactive tour of one of America’s most popular and spectacular natural environments – Yosemite National Park in California. The project is unique in both the depth of its coverage and the quality of its imagery.

Scott Highton

Scott Highton

It was created and photographed by pioneering virtual reality (VR) photographer Scott Highton, who has specialized in VR photography since the early 1990s. Scott has spent significant time exploring Yosemite during his 40 years in California, including 15 years as a technical mountain rescue team member in the 1980s and 1990s. He and his wife currently live part time in Mariposa, just outside of the park. Scott is also the author of the seminal 2010 book, Virtual Reality Photography.

Virtual Yosemite allows online visitors to experience over 400 different locations within Yosemite and its surrounding areas, in all seasons. Over 95 percent of the locations covered are accessible to Yosemite visitors via roads or trails. The 360° interactive panoramas are all presented in high resolution, so viewers can zoom in and out to see details, and can pan fully around, including looking upward and downward. Dizzying views from the tops of Yosemite’s famous cliffs and waterfalls are available, along with peaceful locations along trails and in well-known parts of Yosemite Valley.

 

Explore the majesty of the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias (recently reopened to the public after a three-year restoration), the tops of Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and Glacier Point, the interior of the Ahwahnee Hotel, along with less-visited but equally beautiful areas such as Tuolumne Meadows, Hetch Hetchy, Foresta, and Wawona.

Nearby attractions outside of Yosemite’s borders are also included, such as Mono Lake and Bodie State Park (an abandoned town and mining operation) on the east side of the Sierra Mountains, as well as the Merced River Canyon with its magnificent spring wildflower blooms on the west.

Caption information is provided for every location, and online visitors can navigate from location to location via direct links within each nearby panorama, or via location indexes and an onscreen map.

Virtual Yosemite remains an ongoing and expanding online location experience, with updates and further coverage being added regularly.  It is also being increasingly used by educators and parents for remote learning.  Please check in on our Education page for assistance with this.

If you’re planning a visit to Yosemite, be sure to visit the Resources / Support page of the web site for links to trip planning, transportation, lodging, etc. We thank the generous individuals and companies who have provided support for not only this project but for the protection and preservation of Yosemite National Park. We encourage you to support their businesses.

See recent press coverage of  Virtual Yosemite on our Press pages.

To arrange an interview, contact Virtual Yosemite author Scott Highton here.