Devils Postpile National Monument ⓘ

Devils Postpile sits at a cultural crossroads where the traditional territories of American Indian inhabitants of the east and west slopes of the Sierra Nevada intersect. Due to its remoteness, rugged terrain, and harsh winters, the area say limited use for most of human history, but nonetheless was significant to area tribes. The area's significance as a trade route and intercultural exchange can still be seen today.

Archaeological evidence suggests that humans began crossing the Sierra Crest east of Devils Postpile at least 7,500 years ago. Obsidian fragments, likely originating from the Casa Diablo, have been found in the monument and provide evidence of the area's role in the early California obsidian trade as early as 2,500 to 5,000 years ago.

Questions remain about the subsequent settlement and use of the area. While archaeologists have proposed that a prolonged drought, possible less than 1,000 years ago, may have led people living in the Great Basin to migrate west; tribal histories maintain that contemporary tribes are descendants of the original inhabitants of the area.

Trans-Sierra Trade Trade between groups from the west and east slopes of the Sierra Nevada brought people through the Devils Postpile area for thousands of years. In addition to food, tools, and other materials, the tribes exchanged ideas and customs.

To meet with the Paiute, the North Fork Mono traveled through the Middle Fork Valley and over Mammoth Pass, which at 9,300 feet is the lowest point for more than 250 miles along the Sierra crest. They used a series of nine camps throughout the area, on the final ascent over the Sierra crest they camped at Anakwumakwê, one of their camps which is understood to be a spring on the slope of Mammoth Mountain. Once over the Pass, the North Fork Mono trading parties typically remained there until the pine nuts were ripe in the fall.

The Mammoth Pass Trail from the North Fork San Joaquin Valley through the Middle Fork Valley continued to be used by North Fork Mono and Paiute communities into the modern era. Today the general route can be followed by taking Sheep's Crossing over the North Fork San Joaquin and the King Creek Trail through the north end of the monument to Reds Meadows and over Mammoth Pass.

Impacts on the Landscape By altering the landscape to suit their needs, the Indians contributed to the ecological conditions that Euro-American explorers and settlers encountered in the Sierra Nevada in the 1800s. Their interventions included sowing seeds, transplanting shrubs and small trees, diverting water for irrigation, pruning, weeding, erosion control, and burning wood for fires. They also set fires to open trails, to promote the growth of certain plants, and to drive out game for hunting. Setting fires could also control brush and reduce the possibility of large fires that risked human life and food sources. The open areas noted by early Euro-American travelers through the Sierra Nevada may have been at least partly the result of frequent burning to stimulate the growth of grasses that provided food for wildlife and may have increased the water retention of meadows.

Prior to the 1800s, lodgepole pine forests in similar locations in the Sierra Nevada burned roughly every 130 to 160 years, red fir and Jeffrey pine forests about every 30 to 60 years. In Devils Postpile from the early 1700s to the late 1800s, tree-ring samples show that fires affected red fir and Jeffrey pine forests every 5 to 25 years, and lodgepole pine forests every 15 to 30 years. This frequency may be greater than can be accounted for by lightning, volcanic activity, and climate change, especially considering the extent of the pumice covering the area, which tends to inhibit the growth of understory fuels. Tree-ring studies have also shown that the frequency of fires in Devils Postpile diminished after the 1860s,with no significant fires after 1887 until the Rainbow Fire in 1992. Although other factors may have affected fire activity, this decrease occurred after removal of the American Indians to reservations and the efforts of Euro-American settlers to suppress fires increased.

Most studies of native burning of the landscape in the Sierra Nevada have focused on the more populated, lower-elevation areas on the western slope. Although the possible short-term or long-term impacts of intentional burning on the ecology of the Devils Postpile area are not known, there is evidence that Indians set fires in some higher-elevation areas of the Sierras. Even in the Middle Fork Valley, which was used for only brief periods each year, fire would have significantly reduced undergrowth and duff, particularly in the southern portion of the present-day monument where pumice does not predominate. It would have opened up the forest, encouraging the growth of forage that could have attracted deer and other wildlife. The Indians may also have set fire to young lodgepole or removed willow along riverbanks to enlarge meadows to provide more space for camping, collecting plants, and hunting.

Displacement by Euro-Americans By the early 1800s, Spanish, Mexican, and American colonists had introduced the American Indians to new trade goods, including foods, guns, other metal tools, and horses, which enabled them to travel farther and carry more goods. Slowly from the 1840s to the 1890s, Sierra tribes were displaced by miners, loggers, and sheep and cattle herders who had economic interests within the area.

The Indian Legacy at Devils Postpile Increasing our understanding of the Indians' historical relationship with Devils Postpile encourages an awareness that the area's montane meadows, riparian vegetation, fish and wildlife populations, and charcoal scars of past fire regimes will provide insights into the cultural influences of the natural landscape. Ongoing efforts will continue to maintain an active tribal consultation program for identification and evaluation of natural and cultural resources with significance to American Indian tribes and groups, as well as recommendations for management.

EURO-AMERICAN EXPLORERS Exploration of the east side of the Sierra Nevada did not begin until the early 1800s. In 1806 Gabriel Moraga, a Mexican-born officer in the Spanish army, made the first documented entry by non-natives into the Sierra. Subsequent explorers, including Jedediah Smith, Joseph Walker, and John Frémont, further explored and mapped passages through the mountains during the 1830-40s, but none of these men ventured to Devils Postpile. Due to the high elevation, harsh conditions, and limited trails, the Middle Fork Valley remained unexplored by Euro-Americans until the late 1800s, when mining changed the interests in this area. Visit our explorers page for more information .

MINERS Gold was first found in the Sierra Nevada at Sutter's Mill, 130 miles northwest of Devils Postpile, in 1848. Although a few prospectors tried their luck in the Postpile area, it continued to be primarily a place people passed through on their way east to mines in the Mammoth Lakes basin. Once the most accessible deposits were stripped clean by the mid-1850s, prospectors began looking for the storied untapped veins in the remote areas of the Eastern Sierra. In 1862, after reports that a man had found a gold-producing shelf of "reddish cement" at Pumice Flat, prospectors swarmed over the area to no avail before declaring the claim a hoax. Minaret Mine, the most developed mining site in the area, also proved to be unprofitable, and had ceased operations by 1934. See Historic Places for more information .

Consequences of the Mining Activity Most mining operations in the Postpile region quickly folded due to a lack of minerals, financial mismanagement, or the harsh climate and difficult access. Even the best-financed mining ventures in the Eastern Sierra did not reach the scale of those on the west slope foothills. The few settlers who remained in the area tended to forsake mining for other livelihoods such as trapping, livestock grazing, vegetable gardens, or more dubious pursuits such as horse and cattle theft.

Nonetheless, the blasting, woodcutting, water diversions, hunting, and farming that mining operations brought to the region had lasting environmental effects. Abandoned diggings, dynamite scars, overgrown roadbeds, ruined cabins, buried tools, blockhouse foundations, and remnant dams can still be found even in the highest basins of the Middle Fork San Joaquin. Even after the mines closed, Mammoth Lakes continued to draw prospectors, timber entrepreneurs, ranchers, and, by the early 1900s, innkeepers, commercial packers , artists, sightseers, and recreational fishermen. Over time, by widening trails, improving roads, and promoting the region's recreational values, these newcomers helped launch the economic transition to tourism that was occurring in many places in the West during that period.

The French Trail In this period before taxpayer-funded roads, entrepreneurs constructed toll roads over the Sierra crest to provide access to mining, timber, and grazing sites. Following a trail established by American Indians and miners up the San Joaquin River, John French developed the route named for him to provide easier access from present-day Oakhurst to his mining sites in the Mammoth Lakes basin. Too rugged for wagons, the 30-mile stretch from the North Fork San Joaquin to Mammoth Pass remained a foot and horse trail. The 54-mile route past the Postpile collected tolls only during the summer months from 1879 to 1881. It was hardly suitable for early tourists, even those who could bear the easier stage routes into the Yosemite Valley, but it facilitated the initial settlement of the Mammoth Lakes area and provided an important connection with more populated areas to the west.

SETTLERS Red Sotcher A red-bearded man known as Red Sotcher who began grazing sheep southeast of the Postpile in 1879 soon realized he could make more money raising vegetables on the land, now known as Reds Meadow. He was also the source of the names Reds Lake and Sotcher Lake. Although one report claimed that in 1878 Sotcher built the cabin that once stood near the Postpile, another indicated that it "looked new" in 1909. See Historic Places for more information .

"Postpile Joe" Ivanhoe Joe Ivanhoe was a one-armed packer and trapper who lived in the cabin at the base of the postpile from as early as 1912 to 1935. Joe was known as a "boisterous liar" but with his improvements to the cabin, and friendly manner, he and the cabin were a welcome sight to the people traveling through the valley.

SHEEPHERDERS Along with mining and logging, sheep grazing flourished in California in the mid-1800s. The state's mild climate, the sheep's tolerance of drought, and the large areas of land open to grazing made sheep more profitable than cattle. The men best suited to tend the flocks had often gained their experience in Argentina after migrating there from the Basque country of northwest Spain and southwest France. Portuguese, Irish, and Chinese immigrants to the United States were also drawn into sheepherding.

Although some of the Basques owned ranches, most took care of other people's flocks during the summer and fall. When the Civil War increased the demand for wool, sheepherding spread north into the San Joaquin Valley. Soon after, drought and competition for grazing land compelled many herders to venture into the High Sierra.

The first recorded sheepherder in the Middle Fork Valley was in 1879 when a herder with an estimated 2,000 sheep camped near the mouth of Fish Creek. By the 1890s, nearly every canyon, valley, and meadow in the Sierra Nevada had been impacted by domestic sheep.

The real and perceived environmental effects of grazing provided the motivation for early conservation efforts in the Sierra Nevada. Conservationists objected that overgrazing by sheep reduced the native grasses in the High Sierra and that the sheep's hooves trampled vegetation and accelerated erosion by wearing trenches into the soil. In his pleas to protect the Yosemite region as a national park, John Muir referred to sheep as "hoofed locusts." Others complained that the fires set by the sheepherders to clear trails and encourage the regrowth of forage could destroy stands of valuable timber.

Conservationists called for a ban on sheep in California's newly created national parks and forest reserves. In the 1890s, when Yosemite National Park included Devils Postpile, the principal task and most vexing challenge for cavalry troops assigned to it was evicting sheepherders. Although located in a remote corner of the park, Reds Meadow served as an important post from which to prevent sheepherders from entering via Mammoth Pass, one of the only accessible passes along the Central Sierra escarpment. A 1896 map of the park shows Reds Meadow as a patrol post with a series of trails and pack routes radiating out like spokes on a wheel. But the vast area of the park and its rugged topography enabled the sheepherders to evade the patrols. To avoid detection by cavalry patrols or tourists who would report them, the sheepherders removed the bells from their sheep and kept their campfires small.

According to Theodore Solomons, who passed through the area in 1892 as part of his mapping of the Sierra crest, the first known name of the Postpile comes from the sheepherders who frequented this area and referred to it as, "the Devil's Woodpile" due to it similarity to fence wood posts. The sheepherders themselves left few written records aside from carvings on trees of names, dates, and self-portraits. Anthropologists have found these arborglyphs in the Sierra Nevada and throughout the Great Basin, particularly on aspen trees near meadows in which the sheepherders camped. In addition to being an artistic expression, the carvings served to mark out territory or inform other sheepherders when a particular area had last been grazed. Although less prevalent in Devils Postpile than in other areas of the Sierra and Great Basin, a 1993 survey documented 37 marked trees on a terrace above the Middle Fork San Joaquin. The extent of the bark overgrowth and a comparison with nearby graffiti from 1931 indicated that the tree carvings predated the creation of the monument.

Mules and horses navigated the steep trails of the Sierra Nevada for early European American explorers, supported the US Army's efforts to subdue the American Indians , and carried miners ' supplies into the mountains. Ranchers hired packers when they moved their cattle to graze in the Cascade Valley and along the Middle Fork San Joaquin, and government agencies hired them to repair roads, build fire lookouts, stock trout into streams and creeks , and shuttle supplies for backcountry geologic surveys.

Eventually it was tourists who provided the primary clientele for Sierra packers. Pack trips enabled people to cover long distances and experience the backcountry in relative comfort, gaining popularity in the first half of the 1900s. The Sierra Club had annual month-long pack trips with 100 mules for their 200 participants, but as use grew, so did concerns about the environmental impacts of packing.

Starting in the 1920s, the US Forest Service and National Park Service were regulating the use of pack stock in the backcountry, and in 1936 wildlife technician E. Lowell Sumner warned that "unless active protection measures are taken now, the chance that these meadows will recover completely is slight." In 1941 a Sierra Club committee began providing instructions and maps for packers, and limiting the use of certain fragile areas. These were accepted and followed by some, while others continued to bring large parties to scenic spots and leave behind trash, fire pits, shelters, and trampled vegetation. The High Sierra Packers Association drew up a "packer's code" in 1948 in order to help preserve the wilderness character of the land, on which they relied so heavily.

The wilderness character of the landscape was a resource that the packers' livelihoods depended on, and many members opposed plans for a trans-Sierra highway . Throughout the Ansel Adams Wilderness designation from the late 1950s to 1984, a coalition of local packers, business owners, and conservationists secured an important victory when they persuaded then-governor Ronald Reagan to halt a proposed trans-Sierra highway.

Today, the packing tradition continues at both commercial pack stations in the Sierra and with federal agencies. The National Forest Service and the National Park Service both rely on pack stock to supply back-country camps and trail crews, to complete trail work in wilderness, and to pack in employees and supplies. The Inyo National Forest is home to one of the US Forest Service's Pack Stock Centers for Excellence, which teaches traditional wilderness pack skills and serves as a valuable resource for forests throughout the west. National parks in the Sierra including Devils Postpile rely on pack stock and Park Service packers to assist with trail work, rescues, and other needs in remote locations. See our current stock regulations for recreational use of stock in the monument.

Despite benefiting from the rapid industrialization of the late 1800s, many Americans worried about diminishing natural resources and the effects of urban life on their physical and intellectual well-being. As tourists they often wanted to seek out the last vestiges of the wilderness that many believed had been the origin of the American character.

The Devils Postpile area came under federal protection in 1890 when it was included within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park. Two years later John Muir organized the Sierra Club with a group of professors and businessmen who hoped to build a constituency for preservation by blazing trails through the Sierra backcountry for invigorating recreation. Muir believed that "if people in general could be got into the woods, even for once, to hear the trees speak for themselves, all difficulties in the way of forest preservation would vanish."

In 1905, however, mining , timber, and grazing interests succeeded in having the Devils Postpile area transferred from Yosemite to the newly designated Sierra National Forest, which meant that the US Forest Service could open it to commercial development. In 1910, District Engineer Walter Huber received an application to blast portions of the Postpile formation to build a dam. Arguing that its scenic and scientific value outweighed the economic benefits of a dam in the area, Huber convinced Forest Service officials and President William Taft to join the Sierra Club in supporting the establishment of a national monument at the Postpile.

In 1930, guide Mon Griggs set off on the John Muir Trail with novice packer Norman "Ike" Livermore Jr. and four clients. On the fifth night, they camped west of the Minaret divide at a raucous gathering point for sheepherders and cattlemen. Griggs promised that on the next night they would be "in the most beautiful camp in the whole mountains." When they arrived at Pumice Flat, however, they were surprised to find a valley full of automobiles. Griggs had not known of the construction of the Minaret Summit mining road.

Later, when Livermore was on the Sierra Club board and then Governor Ronald Reagan's secretary of resources, that experience spurred him to oppose the extension of roads into the High Sierra backcountry. For Livermore, the Middle Fork Valley represented an idyllic wilderness better left undeveloped and accessible only to those willing to pack in by foot or stock. The plan to develop a trans-Sierra highway in 1972 would have greatly increased tourism, but also threatened the rustic and wilderness quality of the area, so a coalition of packers, tourism business owners, and local conservationists defeated the plan. Their efforts continued into the 1980s and were successful in 1984 in connecting two Forest Service "primitive areas" with the Ansel Adams Wilderness which includes three-quarters of the monument and forever prevents any development within the area.

When Devils Postpile National Monument was established in 1911, little was known about the geologic processes that had shaped the Postpile formation and its surrounding landscape. For most observers through the early 1900s, the Postpile was notable primarily for its strange appearance and scenic setting.

US Geological Survey topographer François Matthes produced the first authoritative survey of the Postpile and the surrounding area in 1930 as part of a larger project to document the geologic history of Yosemite and the High Sierra. He also published short articles for the Sierra Club Bulletin on aspects of Sierra geology. His 1930 essay on Devils Postpile and the surrounding region brought attention to a little-known area and became the basis for subsequent geologic studies of the Mammoth volcanic complex.

Unlike most previous observers who viewed the Postpile formation as a geologic oddity, Matthes described it as the most visible example of the volcanic and glacial processes that shaped the Sierra crest in the Mammoth region. Matthes conducted the first detailed study of the origins of the Postpile, in which he concluded that the basaltic lava of the Postpile had erupted from Mammoth Pass from 100,000 to 200,000 years ago, between two of the Sierra's major glacial epochs (later found to be incorrect). Matthes also described the action of the Middle Fork San Joaquin Glacier, which carved away all but the most resistant portions of the basalt obstruction.

Although appearing as "a mere hummock in landscape dominated by mile-high peaks," Matthes wrote, "the columns that form its steep west front, facing the river, are exceptionally high, straight and clean cut;those at its southern end are remarkable for their curvature and their radial arrangement with respect to a center at the top of the pile. Strikingly beautiful, also, are the six-sided or five-sided end facets of the columns which in places still gleam with the polish that was imparted to them by the overriding glacier."

The next significant geologic work at the monument took place following its transfer to the National Park Service in 1934, when Yosemite managers sent Theodore Cronyn to survey themonument and catalog its resources. Cronyn documented several other features of geologic interest, including the basalt columns of the Buttresses, the prominent cliff across the river and downstream from the Postpile, and several large, egg-shaped glacial erratics that had been deposited as the Middle Fork glacier retreated.

Budget cuts during World War II prompted a debate about whether Devils Postpile deserved national monument designation based on its significance as a scientific resource. After inspecting the area in 1951, National Park Service Naturalist Dorr Yeager concluded that the Postpile formation was "unique among geologic phenomena of this country" and that Rainbow Falls, although not as spectacular as the falls in the Yosemite Valley, was beautiful and should be retained in the monument.

In a 1952 article for Yosemite Nature Notes, Ranger Naturalist Richard Hartesveldt synthesized what was known about the geology of the Postpile area and described the ongoing processes of geologic change evident in the Middle Fork Valley. In 1963, ranger-naturalists Keith Trexler and William Jones revised and updated the article, republishing it as a tourist brochure titled Your Guide to Devils Postpile National Monument.

In the 1980s, park managers revised the monument's geologic story, estimating the age of the lava at approximately 100,000 years and identifying its source as a collection of vents near thepresent-day Pumice Flat campground. In recent years, the National Park Service has worked with the USGS to pursue more in-depth studies of the Postpile lava and other volcanic features of the monument and the surrounding area. In 2010, USGS scientist Wes Hildreth evaluated samples of the Postpile lava using the newer dating process that established a more precise age of approximately 82,000 years.

TOURISTS By the late 1800s, the Sierra Nevada was becoming more accessible by visitors who saw the landscape differently than did the Euro-American settlers, miners, sheepherders , and hunters. James Hutchings began encouraging tourism in the area as a publisher of California Illustrated Magazine, and highlighted Devils Postpile after his 1875 expedition to the area.

A few intrepid travelers began to make their way to the Postpile from Yosemite by using the trail over Mammoth Pass , but it remained too remote from population centers and established travel routes to attract many sightseers. In 1878 George Bayley led the first known group of tourists to see Rainbow Falls, but his published account did not mention the Postpile, less than two miles to the north.

Theodore Solomons passed the Postpile in 1892 while mapping a route from Yosemite to Mount Whitney, portions of which later became the John Muir Trail . Rather than viewing the High Sierra as a collection of mining, logging, and grazing sites, Solomons presented a new view of it as a region to be valued for its scenery and wild terrain. Similarly, as tourism increased during the 1900s, the Devils Postpile area became valued more for its scenery and scientific interest than for use of its natural resources. Yet difficult access kept tourism at the monument sparse until construction of the Minaret Mine road in 1928 and subsequent completion of Highway 395.

Increased visitation to the Postpile put more pressure on the natural resources and the small park staff trying to protect those resources. Annual visitation grew from about 6,000 people in 1938 to nearly 32,000 in 1954, despite the poor condition of the entrance road. The expansion of the interstate highway system and the growing popularity of pickup trucks and camping trailers changed the way people viewed outdoor recreation and public lands, bringing more campers to the Middle Fork Valley. The damage to the Devils Postpile landscape caused by heavy recreational use identified in a 1953 report included flower picking, grazing pack stock, and the trails that fishermen made through the meadows along the river which resulted in trampled vegetation and erosion of the pumice soils.

Annual visitation has fluctuated widely above and below 100,000 since the mid-1960s. It reached a record high of more than 155,000 in 2001, and has averaged about 100,000 during the last decade. For more details, see the NPS statistics web page . Today, the monument serves as an important hub for tourism and recreation in the Sierra Nevada. In addition to viewing the Postpile formation and appreciating the monument's other scenic and scientific resources, visitors come to camp in a rustic setting, fish the Middle Fork San Joaquin, and explore the surrounding peaks, passes, and alpine basins by foot or mule.

PARK MANAGERS AND RANGERS When Devils Postpile National Monument was transferred from the US Forest Service to the National Park Service in 1934, it became a satellite of Yosemite and struggled with limited funding and personnel for many years. Vernon Lowery, Earl Homuth, Richard Hartesveldt, and Gene Cahoon were the first men to work at Devils Postpile as jack-of-all trades kind of rangers. These men served as maintenance, law enforcement, naturalists, and interpreters. In his report for 1962, Cahoon recommended hiring a second naturalist to meet visitor requests for nature walks and campfire talks, and to give him "more time for strictly ranger work, such as keeping people from wading barefoot in the drinking water, washing clothes and person in said drinking water, cleaning fish in the drinking water, etc."

In 1969, Assistant Chief Park Naturalist at Yosemite, William Jones, wrote a scathing report on the management of Devils Postpile. "The trail system in and about the monument still gets people lost, the trails are eroding badly, there are unmarked dangerous points on them at river and waterfall overlooks, trailside features lack any effective interpretation, and there is no trail to the only general overlook of the postpile on the west side of the river." Jones said the problem was that no one person or office was accountable for the monument's infrastructure and interpretation needs. In response, in 1972 responsibility for the monument was transferred to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, with Wymond Eckhardt from Yosemite remaining on as supervisory ranger. Eckhardt had minimal oversight from his superior who was nearly 300 miles away, and with his knowledge of the area, local connections, and willingness to collaborate with the Forest Service, Eckhardt was able to transition the monument into the monument we see today. Eckhardt retired in 2000 after leaving a lasting legacy at the monument. He was replaced by Deanna Dulen, former director of the Inyo National Forest's Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center.

While evidence of the original trail over the Mammoth Pass may be difficult to locate, modern day trails follow the general corridor used by American Indian traders both before and after Euro-American settlement . The trail connects the North Fork San Joaquin Valley to the Mammoth Lakes Basin by way of Devils Postpile.

At 9,300 feet, Mammoth Pass is the lowest point for more than 250 miles along the Sierra crest, and has been important to the history of this area. In the 1860s, sheepherders came over Mammoth Pass from the east to graze their flocks on the alpine and subalpine meadows in and around the Middle Fork Valley. The trail was also used by miners , U.S. cavalry patrols during the early history of Yosemite National Park, and American Indians. Use has continued today by Forest Service trail crews, hikers, and pack-stock outfits.

In the first decade after the monument was established in 1911, most visitors arrived by crossing the Sierra crest from the east by way of Mammoth Pass on the south shoulder of Mammoth Mountain. Between the 1950s and 1970s, the area became the focus of a citizen movement led by local conservationists, packers , and tourism business owners to prevent the construction of a trans-Sierra highway , which would have followed the general route of the historical trail. Due to the history associated with this trail, the Mammoth Pass Trail, extending from the North Fork San Joaquin Valley through Devils Postpile to the Mammoth Lakes basin, may therefore qualify for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places as a cultural landscape.

In the late 1700s, several Spanish expeditions set out from New Mexico to establish trade routes across the Great Basin to California. However, there is no evidence that any of these parties reached the east side of the Sierra Nevada until the early 1800s. In an 1806, Gabriel Moraga, a Mexican-born officer in the Spanish army with a company of 15 men, made the first documented entry by non-natives into the Sierra Nevada.

In the 1820s, Euro-American explorers and fur trappers began looking for ways to cross over the Sierra into what was then Mexican California. In 1827, Jedediah Smith, with two men and enough horses to carry more than 1,500 pounds of beaver pelts, became the first non-native party to traverse the range from west to east, which they did near Ebbetts Pass, about 80 miles north of Devils Postpile.

Traveling from the Great Salt Lake, Joseph Walker crossed the Sierra from east to west with 70 men in 1833, becoming probably the first non-natives to see the Yosemite Valley. They struggled through the maze of granite gorges north of the Tuolumne River where they encountered impassable cliffs and deep snowdrifts. Running low on food, they had to butcher some of their horses. They happened upon the Mono trail, which was the main Indian route from Mono Lake across Tuolumne Meadows to the western foothills. Based on the advice of Indians on the west slope, they returned by a far easier route 180 miles to the south, over what would later be named Walker Pass.

In the mid-1840s, John Frémont led expeditions to survey the western and eastern flanks of the Sierra and mapped many of the easiest passages through the mountains. Fear of conflicts with Indians deterred Euro-American settlers from entering the Sierra Nevada, but after Mexico ceded California to the United States along with most of the current US Southwest, the increased presence of the US military emboldened settlement there. Miners, loggers, and sheepherders began to arrive, especially after the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada in 1848. However, the highest elevations of the Central Sierra and the less commonly used Indian routes, including the Mammoth Pass trail east of Devils Postpile, remained unexplored by Euro-Americans until the late 1800s.

Rainbow trout may have been present in the Middle Fork San Joaquin up to the base of Rainbow Falls before the arrival of Euro-Americans, but the falls would have blocked the migration of fish farther upstream. Miners and settlers began planting trout fingerlings in higher elevation lakes and streams in the Sierra Nevada in the mid-1800s, but the more remote and lightly used areas were slower to receive fish populations. Trout may not have been planted in the Middle Fork above Rainbow Falls until the early 1900s.

Eventually, however, residents occasionally planted rainbow, brook, golden, and brown trout in the river and local lakes and streams to satisfy the growing demand. In the 1930s, when the area had become accessible to automobile traffic, the California Department of Fish and Game began regular stocking of the Middle Fork San Joaquin River. When responsibility for managing Devils Postpile National Monument passed from the US Forest Service to the National Park Service in 1934, fishing was the primary reason that visitors came to the area. About 50 fishermen visited the monument daily during the summer, utilizing five or six overnight camps.

By the 1950s, fishing demand often exceeded the fish supplied by the state's stocking program. Improvements in spinning reel technology made it easy to cast bait or lures for trout, and state fish and game officials struggled to keep pace with increased fishing pressure on the Middle Fork and area lakes. Surveys showed that at least half of all visitors in the Middle Fork Valley were there to fish. By the mid-1960s, the river was being stocked with 17,000 to 20,000 fingerling trout each summer and had become one of the most popular fishing destinations in the Eastern Sierra.

In his 1969 critique of management policies at Devils Postpile, Yosemite's Assistant Chief Park Naturalist William Jones noted that with existing facilities being "used at or beyond capacity," it was "the height of absurdity to attract more users through an intensive fish management program." While the Forest Service continued to view trout stocking as an important component of recreational management, the Park Service gradually took a more skeptical view. As early as 1921, the Ecological Society of America began opposing introduction of nonnative species in national parks, and in the late 1920s and 1930s, biologists both inside and outside the agency recognized the threat that introduced species posed for native fish. Still, many parks continued hatchery programs and nonnative fish planting well into the 1970s. Fish stocking in Devils Postpile ended in 1971.

Historic places in the Devils Postpile area include the structures remaining at the Minaret Mine site, the Reds Meadow Guard Station, the Reds Meadow Bath House, the Devils Postpile Ranger Station, the cabin ruins at the base of the Postpile, and some of the structures at the Reds Meadow Resort and Pack Station. As representations of the area's economic development and of the history of interagency and regional cooperation during federal government administration, some of these sites may be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of the places referenced on this page are located on the Inyo National Forest and are not within the boundaries of the monument.

Minaret Mine Established in 1878 six miles west of the Postpile, the Minaret Mine was not significantly developed until fifty years later when C.C. Randall purchased the claim, hired members of the Johnston family oversee operations, and financed construction of the first road into the Middle Fork Valley. The narrow dirt track zigzagged steeply from Minaret Summit to Pumice Flat and up the six miles to the mine site on a tributary of Minaret Creek. It was built to supply the dozen or so men who worked at the mine during the winter. Tex Cushions of Mammoth City (now known as the Town of Mammoth Lakes) made frequent trips to the mine by dog sled. Ultimately, however, the mine's remote location made sustaining a profit nearly impossible.

After the mine ceased operations in the early 1930s, mineral rights for the area changed hands several times. In the 1970s, the claim was held by Reverend Ralph York of Los Gatos, California, who reportedly improved the structures to use them as a summer camp for his church.

While mining was popular near Devils Postpile, extensive evidence of mining within the monument has never been found.

Reds Meadow Resort and Pack Station After the Minaret Mine closed, the Johnston family extended the road south from Pumice Flat to Reds Meadow and partnered with Lloyd Summers to construct the buildings for the Reds Meadow Pack Station, later upgraded to the Reds Meadow Resort and Pack Station. From the 1940s to the 1960s, the station's most popular trip followed the route of the old French Trail to Summit Meadow, up to Sheep's Crossing on the North Fork San Joaquin, and on to the 77 Corral. By the 1960s it had become one of the most popular outfitters in the Sierra Nevada.

The only structure remaining at the station that meets the 50-year age requirement for National Register consideration is Cabin One at the resort. However, the pack station itself was significant in the development of the recreational economy of the Mammoth Lakes region.

Reds Meadow Guard Station and Bath House The US Forest Services established a summer guard station at Reds Meadow in 1910. Ranger Malcolm McLeod, who was assigned to the station in 1913, took up residence in a tent camp there with his wife Emma. In 1927, they began using a log cabin that he and his crew built near the hot spring. Forest Service ranger Lee Verret lived there with his wife Dorothy for 19 summers starting in 1949. The cabin, which is still standing, served as the Forest Service ranger station for the entire Middle Fork Valley until late 1960s.

A crew from the Civilian Conservation Corps stationed at the North Fork Ranger camp on the Sierra National Forest built the public bathhouse located down the hill from the Reds Meadow cabin in 1935. The only CCC structure in the area, it enabled better management of the use of the hot spring by valley visitors. The hot spring bathhouse suffered damage during the 2011 windstorm and is currently inoperable.

Postpile Cabin The remains of the cabin near the base of the Postpile is the monument's most visible remnant of the area's mining past. Its origins are not entirely clear. Although some accounts indicate that a settler known as Red Sotcher built the cabin in 1878, another suggested that the cabin "looked new" in 1909 when it was occupied by a man named Moore. Known for his high-quality English tweeds Moore was apparently supervising men working at his mining claim somewhere west of the Postpile. The cabin may have been built during the mining boom of the late 1800s and subsequently rehabilitated by Moore or other inhabitants.

When it was standing, the cabin exhibited architectural features not found elsewhere in the Sierra Nevada, including deeply recessed windows and the shake and wedge-shaped chinking used for the roof. The largest logs were used to form the base, and progressively smaller pieces of lumber were linked together to form the walls. The cabin may have been constructed this way to stand up to the heavy accumulations of snow in the area. It was still in use in the 1930s when deterioration began. After it collapsed under a heavy snow in 1954, the National Park Service removed most of the remnants. Today, only the foundation and the large stone hearth are still visible.

Devils Postpile Ranger Station The Devil Postpile Ranger Station is constructed primarily of sugar pine lumber salvaged from the historic Sentianal Hotel in Yosemite Valley. The cabin serves as the current visitor contact station with the former front kitchen holding interpretive exhibits, and the back bedroom operating as an office space.

The cabin was originally built in July 1941 to replace the tent shelter that had served as both the ranger quarters and visitor contact station since the mid-1930s. The cabin has since been renovated with repairs necessary to maintain the functionality but original structural materials remain in very good condition. This building stands as a reminder of the early planning and development at Devils Postpile National Monument.

Even in an age of interstate highways and powerful motor vehicles, the Sierra Nevada remains a significant barrier for eastward travel from California's Central Valley. But the absence of a road bisecting the range for 270 miles from Walker Pass in the south to Tioga Pass in the north is a product of historical forces as well physical geography.

Several plans for highways across the central Sierra Nevada were proposed in the 1920s. The fact that none were built reflects the growing strength of conservationists . But the relatively low elevation of Mammoth Pass continued to attract the attention of business interests in the Central Valley, and when the High Sierra and Minarets primitive areas were designated west of the Middle Fork Valley in 1931, legislators left a five-mile gap between them to allow for the possible construction of a highway.

The possibility resurfaced in the mid-1950s when representatives from Fresno, Madera, and Merced Counties began lobbying for the road as necessary for reaching the "rich markets to the east." After a 1957 study by the Bureau of Public Roads and the US Forest Service concluded that such a road was feasible, Mammoth area residents gathered hundreds of signatures on a petition opposing the highway, laying the groundwork for a local movement.

While the highway may have been possible from an engineering standpoint, construction wouldbe difficult and expensive. In 1966, California state highway engineer J.C. Womack concluded that several large bridges would be needed to cross steep canyons and snow-removal costs would likely exceed that of any other highway in the state. Womack later warned that "alignment easterly of the Devil's Postpile would, due to terrain, be so near the famous Postpile columns that heavy construction (blasting) could possibly cause damage to these columns." Womack recommended that neither state nor federal funds be allocated for the project. Some state legislators, however, continued to be swayed by a powerful Central Valley constituency of agricultural interests, newspapers, public lands committees, and private citizens.

The Park Service either ignored or was unaware of Womack's report and took no official position on the Minaret Summit Highway, as it came to be known. It would not pass within the boundaries of Devils Postpile National Monument, but it would increase visitation, require relocation of the entrance road, and benefit Yosemite National Park by relieving traffic pressure on Tioga Road. Although many North Fork Mono tribe members initially supported the highway as an economic opportunity, after much discussion, the tribe decided that the economic benefits were insufficient to counter arguments for maintaining as much of the traditional value of the land as possible.

Representative Bernie Sisk of Fresno, the primary advocate for the highway, promoted it as a way to extend recreational access to the Mammoth Lakes area to those of "modest means" who could not afford a pack trip or the time and expense then required to reach the area. In the early years, many tourism businesses in the Eastern Sierra assumed that any increase in accessibility would be good for business, but the highway's most vocal opponents were in the Mammoth area. In 1966, a group of recreational business owners and residents formed the Mono County Resources Committee to organize local opposition and mount a letter-writing campaign, targeting conservation organizations, the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, and state and federal legislators.

The environmental impact statement issued in March 1971 concluded that the road would have "substantial adverse impacts" including the visual intrusion of the retaining walls on the wilderness and increased visitation would result in "deterioration of the fragile soils and vegetation, as well as the fish, wildlife and timber supply" at recreation areas. The report's finding that "it is questionable whether more recreation should be encouraged at this location," epitomized the access issues that continued to define wilderness politics in this period.

In May 1971, Russell Train, chairman of the newly formed Council on Environmental Quality, urged the Federal Highway Administration to "terminate action" on all road proposals at Minaret Summit. The following year, the state of California issued a formal objection to the proposed highway, citing the Forest Service's inadequate assessment of the potential environmental impacts.

Thanks to local support from Lou and Marye Roeser, Doug Kittredge, Chip van Nattan, Genny Smith, and others, this issue was brought to the attention of Norman "Ike" Livermore Jr. Ike Livermore, a former packer in the Sierra, was the secretary of resources for Governor Ronald Reagan. Recognizing the effects this road would have on the recreational value and wilderness character of the Sierra, Livermore took the argument to Governor Reagan and Washington DC. During a 1972 pack ride through the Middle Fork Valley, Reagan announced that President Nixon opposed the highway and supported closing the wilderness gap. All parties involved celebrated in 1984 when the California Wilderness Act forever closed the wilderness gap by expanding the Ansel Adams Wilderness and preserving this area for future generations.

In 1915, the Sierra Club persuaded the California legislature to appropriate $10,000 to start the construction of a trail that would eventually extend for more than 200 miles along the Sierra crest, from Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney, passing through Devils Postpile National Monument. The trail was named for the naturalist who had been a founding member and the first president of the club. About 160 miles of the trail became part of the Pacific Crest Trail in 1968 when the trail, which extends from Canada to Mexico, was designated as a National Scenic Trail by Congress.

When the US Forest Service completed the trail in the 1930s, Reds Meadow was the only place the trail met a road. The trail traveled north through the monument until branching off toward Agnew Meadows. As it was one of the lowest elevation points on the trail and the only place other than the trailhead in Yosemite Valley where it was easily accessible by car, the monument became a popular departure point for backpacking, mountain climbing, and, especially, horse and mule packing.

By the early 1960s, approximately 1,500 mules were carting hikers and their gear along the John Muir Trail each summer, which was about twice as many as in 1950. Park managers were concerned about the effects of pack stock on monument resources and the hiker bottleneck along the Postpile Trail. Heavy stock use had worn a wide path and eroded the south end of Soda Springs Meadow where stock parties forded the river. In 1976, the National Park Service approved a rerouting of the trail so that it crossed the river south of the Postpile and ran north along the west bank of the river, continuing north to Thousand Island Lake and avoiding the heavily used Shadow Lake Trail. The primary reason for the new route was to move the John Muir Trail backpackers and stock animals away from Postpile Trail, which was experiencing increasingly heavy day use from hikers, sightseers, and campers driving in from Mammoth Lakes.

Today the trail continues to follow the new route and every year thousands of hikers and pack trains go through the monument and the wilderness, following in the footsteps of the man who was so passionate about the preservation of the Sierra Nevada.

The passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964 marked a turning point in US environmental politics. While concern over the intrusion of roads, cars, and tourist accommodations into previously inaccessible areas remained a priority for many conservationists , wilderness became a symbol of Americans' growing concern with the consequences of their commitments to economic progress and technology. Wilderness became not simply space for recreation, but a scientific resource and a vital part of the nation's heritage. The Wilderness Act inscribed these ideas into law, increasing the power of the federal government to protect the nation's aesthetic, scientific, and historical resources. In the decades that followed, the act also became a powerful tool that advocates could use to protect public lands from economic development.

An important requirement of the Wilderness Act was its stipulation that the US Forest Service evaluate its roadless areas for inclusion in the national wilderness system. The first Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE I) took place in 1967 and declared 56 million acres of national forest land suitable for wilderness designations. The courts later ruled the evaluation had been deficient, resulting in a second Forest Service evaluation in 1977 and 1978 that recommended wilderness designations for 15 million acres and identified another 11 million acres for further study. Within the 15 millions acres, an intentional gap was left between the Minaret and John Muir Wilderness areas to leave room for a proposed highway. Through the work of local activists, this trans-Sierra highway was stopped in 1972, when President Richard Nixon formally announced that the federal government would not fund the highway. This action put an end to talk of a highway through the central Sierra and opened the door for further wilderness protection.

Under RARE I, the Inyo National Forest from the south end of the Middle Fork Valley to the south and west boundaries of Devils Postpile was classified as suitable for inclusion in the wilderness system, but then removed the area from consideration under RARE II. The San Joaquin Wilderness Association, organized in 1978, sent letters to Congress emphasizing the area's value for wilderness-oriented summer recreation. The association's primary goals were to block ski resort development and connect two Forest Service lands west of the monument. In 1979 Congress ordered the Forest Service to include the entire upper Middle Fork Valley in the wilderness designation except for the road corridor and the developed land around Agnew Meadows, Devils Postpile, and Reds Meadow.

By 1980, the pressure had convinced Gary McCoy, General Manager of the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, to abandon the idea of developing the west side of the mountain. Instead McCoy supported a wilderness designation for the Middle Fork Valley in exchange for assurances that the east side of the San Joaquin Ridge would be left open for development. In 1982, Congress approved the closing of the wilderness gap west of the valley, expanding the existing Minarets Wilderness to form the new Ansel Adams Wilderness. Two years later, Congress passed the California Wilderness Act, which extended the Ansel Adams Wilderness to the boundary that McCoy had agreed to in 1980. In addition to limiting the expansion of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, the California Wilderness Act closed the gap in the wilderness of the proposed trans-Sierra highway forever protecting the roadless federal lands in the Middle Fork Valley, including nearly 85 percent of the monument.

The wilderness designation has not made a significant difference in how the National Park Service manages the monument. Wymond Eckhardt, who was the supervisory ranger at the monument in 1984, pointed out that the Park Service already managed the monument as a rustic, minimally developed natural area. The designation has been instrumental, however, in helping to prevent development in areas adjacent to the monument.

People have been present in the Devils Postpile area for thousands of years, using and shaping the landscape in ways that reflect their physical needs and cultural values. Although the area has been relatively insulated from the transformations that have taken place in more populated areas to the east and west, Devils Postpile National Monument has been influenced by the varied activities of many people, including American Indians , miners, sheepherders , conservationists, geologists, and other scientists , tourists, and park managers .

While often not immediately visible, the area's rich history remains evident in archaeological sites, trails, roads, historic places, cultural landscapes, and a variety of introduced plants and animals. Attention to the human stories of Devils Postpile and the Middle Fork San Joaquin River Valley can deepen our appreciation for the area by revealing how different groups of people have valued, altered, and protected the high sierra over time.

Devils Postpile National Monument is a small but rich environment. Located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range between 7,200 and 8,200 feet (2,200 to 2,500 meters), the monument contains an interesting assemblage of flora, fauna and geology.

Devils Postpile National Monument's landscape is a reflection of fire and ice. The eruption and uniform cooling of basalt lava created an impressive formation of hexagonal columns. A glacial event exposed the columns and polished the top of the formation, revealing the striking pattern of hexagons that formed as the basalt contracted and cracked during cooling. Several other lava flows have occurred in the monument and surrounding area. Evidence of volcanic activity persists and can be observed at the monument's soda spring.

The flora and fauna at Devils Postpile are typical of the Sierra Nevada. Visitors can see animals such as chipmunks, black bear, eagles, and deer. Plants such as pine and fir trees abound, as well as many wildflowers. Click here to learn more about plants and animals. Though technically a west slope location, close proximity to the eastern slop of the Sierra Nevada and a low pass creates conditions that allow species from both sides to mix more easily. The unique geography of the area fosters relatively high species diversity concentrated in a small area. Soda Springs Meadow, near the monument Ranger Station, harbors an abundance of songbirds and wildflowers. The talus at the base of Devils Postpile is home to many squirrels and chipmunks and the pine martens who hunt them. Another asset in terms ofr biodiversity is the burned area near Rainbow Falls, which provides habitat for many plants and animals that do not live in heavily forested areas. Measureing and monitoring biodiversity in America's parks is important to the National Park Service. Devils Postpile is part of the Sierra Nevada Network for Inventory and Monitoring which keeps track of species known to live and migrate through the monument and partners with researchers for other monitoring . The monument also monitors habitats such as wetlands as well as factors that impact habitat such as air quality , river flow, and climate .

Early summer in the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River Valley is home to many exquisite wildflowers. One of the best places to explore these colorful landscapes is the Agnew Meadow wildflower walk. The self-guided hike is 0.5 mile. Mid-June through mid-July are the best time to see the most diverse blooms. Look through our common wildflower photo database to help you identify what you find. Plant guides are also available for sale in the Devils Postpile ranger station.

Exotic Plant list Bromus tectorum- Cheatgrass Cirsium vulgare Bull- thistle Lactua serriola- Prickly lettuce Phleum pretense- Timothy Poa annual L.- Annual bluegrass Poa pratensis - Kentucky bluegrass Spergularia rubra - Red Sandspurry Taraxcum officinale - Common dandelion Tragopogon dubius - Western salsify Verbascum thapsis - Common mullein

Bull Thistle- Cirsium vulgare Bull Thistle is native to Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia and found on every continent except for Antarctica. It germinates in spring or fall as a response to soil moisture and is less sensitive to low water availability than other species of thistle. Bull thistle grows well in areas that have recently been disturbed, such as by fire, grazing or other soil disturbances. It competes with native plants and has no nutritional value for wildlife and may prevent tree seedling growth.

Cheatgrass- Bromus tectorum Cheatgrass is native to Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia. It can create a monoculture, growing in pure stands and pushing out all other species. Cheatgrass grows early in cooler temperature and uses soil moisture before native plants can establish themselves. Wind, animals, and people can transport the seeds long distances. Cheatgrass is very flammable and can cause more intense and frequent wildfires. It also reestablishes quickly in areas that have been burned, outcompeting native plants that are slower to establish.

Western Salsify- Tragopogon dubius Western Salsify is native to Eurasia and has been introduced to large parts of North America. Salsify only reproduces by seeds which are stored in a seed head that closely resembles a dandelion. Wind can carry these light seed great distances, spreading Salsify quickly throughout an area. Salsify is common in areas of recent fires or other disturbed areas such as roadsides.

1. Don't pick flowers or dig up native plants, we need these populations to be as strong as possible to outcompete invasive species. 2. If you are hiking, camping, or climbing check all of your gear; shoes, backpacks, ropes etc. for seeds caught in your belongings. 3. Burn local wood. Please don't bring wood from outside to burn in your campfires. Wood can carry invasive insects and seeds. 4. Volunteer at Devils Postpile National Monument. Volunteers are crucial to management of invasive species. If you are interested in helping, please contact the park for more information on upcoming trips and project days. 5. Consider using native plants in your home and garden. Native plants need less water, provide habitat for other native species and help reduce the spread of invasive species.

Native Gardens Native gardens are a wonderful way for everyone to help keep the environment healthy. Native plants are well adapted to their surroundings, they use less water and need less maintenance than non-native plants and in some cases have natural resistance to pests. Native gardens also create habitat for native wildlife, so you'll be able to watch nature in your own back yard! The Benefits of Native Gardens include saving water, low maintenance requirments, reducing pesticides and creating a habitat for native wildlife.

Humans are a major source of non-native plant introduction. Try to identify and remove invasive species in your own yard, to help stop the spread of invasive species and keep your native gardens healthy.

In Devils Postpile National Monument, forests, meadows, and the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River create a variety of habitats for animals. There are 135 vertebrates known to occur in the monument. When visiting Devils Postpile, you may hear some of the wildlife before you see them, from the high pitched warning squeal of the Belding ground squirrel to the begging caw of the Stellar's jay. In the fading light of day, a mule deer or black bear may be found lingering in a meadow or along the river’s edge.

The North American black bear ( Ursus americanus) may be seen occasionally in Devils Postpile National Monument. Black bears are typically most active in the early morning and late evening, but can be seen any time during the day.

Black bears are primarily solitary, with the exception of a mother and her cubs. Typically, the mother bear or sow begins searching for a suitable den in which to give birth and raise her cubs in the fall. Fallen logs, caves, and hollow trees tend to serve this purpose very well. Once her winter den is prepared, she is ready for the birth of her cubs some time in January or February.

Typically, a sow will have two cubs, but may have as many as three or four. The young are born blind, yet instinctively know where to go for food. The mother, at this point, is fairly drowsy, and may not be able to help the young, so it is important that they are self sufficient. The cubs, weighing about 4 pounds, and the mother will leave the den in the spring and start the spring/summer ritual of continuously eating, playing, and learning the ways of their mother. They will stay with her for about two years.

Both cubs and adult black bears tend to not be too interested in humans. Adults spend the majority of their time digging in logs for insects, foraging for grasses and berries, and sleeping. Black bears are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. Human food, however, whether plant or animal, should never be on their menu. To ensure that bears stay out of human food, follow these simple rules:

Have you ever hiked through a forest in the West and seen something sprint across the trail right in front of you and then dash off into a thicket of brush or up a tree never to be seen again? Well, you probably saw a pine marten (Martes americana). Pine martens are members of the weasel family. They are outstanding hunters, often killing and eating animals equal in size. Typically, they feed on bird eggs, squirrels, and mice. They also tend to be a bit short tempered and have been known to attack even members of their own family.

Because of their rather short tempers, mating season is the only time that pine martens generally accept a companion. At this point, the male will only tolerate a female. In the event that another male attempts to "get involved", a fight generally ensues. Martens usually mate in July and August and when the mating is done, the male usually goes his own way.

Typically, the mother will nest in a hollow tree or dead snag. She lines her nest with leaves or grass, and after a 9 month gestation, her young are usually born in early summer. spending a couple of months with mom, the young pine martens are out on their own by the fall.

The Importance of Wetlands Wetlands and meadows may not be the first thing on the must see vacation check list for many visitors, but the provide tremendous value to a diversity of plant and animal life as well as recreational opportunities for visitors. They are not, however, very common. In Devils Postpile they make up only 8.5% of the total area of the monument. In other Sierra Nevada parks such as Yosemite and Sequoia, that number is also less than 10%. So what is so special about these places? Read on to find out!

Habitat for Plants and Animals Although we may think of wetlands and meadows as breeding grounds for mosquitoes in the summer, those mosquitoes are part of a complicated web of life that not only ends with top predators like black bears and mountain lions, but provides endless opportunities for wildlife watching. Meadows are some of the best places to view wildlife. The wetlands in Devils Postpile are home to over 100 species of insects. Most of these live in areas where there is flowing water, although many of them use more stagnant ephemeral, or temporary, ponds to breed. What is so great about bugs? They feed most other things in one way or another.

Eating those wetland and meadow insects are animals like the Belding ground squirrel and any one of ten species of bats found in Devils Postpile. Birds also rely heavily on healthy insect populations in wetland areas. Warblers and other migratory song birds use these meadow and wetland habitats as breeding grounds in the spring and migratory stopovers to refuel in both the spring and the fall. These habitats provide not only a valuable food source for these birds, but many of the willows and other low growing shrubs that depend on moist soil provide nesting locations and protection for breeding and migratory species. Aside from providing protection, meadow and wetland plants also provide food. Mule deer and ground squirrels feast on lush meadow grasses all summer long. Bears will also eat the roots of meadow plants as well as insects.

Many of these species in turn feed some of the larger carnivores that live in Devils Postpile. Meadows are great places for wildlife viewing because this is where animals come to drink and feed. The squirrels draw predators like the coyote and bobcat to Devils Postpile's meadows. Mule deer will draw larger predators such as the mountain lion. Even weasels have been known to come to the meadow to hunt ground squirrels from time to time.

Flood Control and Nutrient Cycling Meadows and wetlands don't just provide places for plants and animals to live. One of the things that makes a wetland a wetland is the hydrology, or water characteristics, of the area. Not all meadows were once lakes that dried up, and not all wetlands have the same hydrology. Some of them are primarily fed by mineral springs, some by increased spring runoff, and some fueled by groundwater. Each one of these wetlands will be slightly different, but their benefits are similar. Wetlands are like giant sponges. During spring runoff and times of high water, they have the capacity to absorb much of the excess water. The plant species that make up the wetlands have adapted to survive floods and actually need the nutrients left behind by those floods to survive. The wetlands also act as filters. They filter out both sediments and pollutants, helping to provide clean, clear water to streams and rivers. This is vital to many riparian species. Because the wetlands absorb so much water, they also provide some flood control. This helps prevent excessive erosion downstream.

Wetland Monitoring Because wetlands are relatively few in number and occupy a small area, yet provide so many vital benefits to plant and animal species, parks in the Sierra Nevada have been monitoring wetland health since 2007. Studies and restoration work was certainly completed before 2007, but an organized monitoring effort began in 2007. These studies will help scientists and resource managers understand the over all health of wetlands throughout the Sierra Nevada parks (Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Devils Postpile), and make management decisions accordingly. These efforts continue today. For more information on wetland monitoring, check out this resource brief .

What Can You Do to Protect Wetlands? You don't have to be a scientist or researcher to protect wetlands and meadows. Here are a few things that you can do during your visit and when you return home to help protect these ecosystems:

Adult pine martens are agile and excellent tree climbers. They often select hollows in trees in which to raise their young. They survive fairly well at Devils Postpile as the park provides ample habitat for them.

Like many of us, the pine marten values his solitude. Pine martens tend to be wary of humans and are difficult to spot because of it. They can be seen in and around the area of the Postpile itself.

If you visit Soda Springs Meadow in the evening or early morning hours, you are likely to spot a mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) grazing on the tall grasses that grow all summer long. Mule deer are named as such for their large mule-like ears, which are an important adaptation for survival, as mule deer tend to be fairly low on the food chain.

Being strictly herbivores, or plant eaters, mule deer can often be seen grazing on manzanita, gooseberry, willow, or grasses in the monument. Throughout the summer it is not uncommon to see a female or doe with one or two fawns.

Mule deer are crepuscular, meaning active a dawn and dusk. They typically spend the hot summer days bedded down in a shady spot waiting for the cool of the evening and protection of low light to feed. Both males and females tend to be most active, and therefore seen most often that time of year.

The fall is a time of preparation for all animals including the mule deer. Not only are they preparing for a long winter with limited food, they are also preparing to mate. Typically in October or November, the males, or bucks, select one or two females with which to mate. Often, he has to defend his choices by fighting, or sparring, with other males. By December or January the mating season is over and the herd will move to the place where it will spend the winter.

Due to lack of food availability, deer move up and down in elevation throughout the year. Because the winters are so harsh here at Devils Postpile, mule deer tend to head to lower elevations once the snows begin to fall and return in the spring.

When visiting Devils Postpile, be on the lookout for the mule deer, as seeing one in the wild is a very rewarding experience. Remember to keep them wild by not approaching or feeding the deer, no matter how docile they may seem.

Campers at Devils Postpile often mention the howling that woke them in the early hours of the morning. This was surely the coyotes (Canis latrans). Coyotes are commonly seen in the Reds Meadow Valley and in Devils Postpile National Monument itself.

Coyotes have adapted to almost every environment in the continental United States. They are clever and resourceful. In the Sierra Nevada, they tend to feed primarily on ground squirrels, shrews, and mice. They will, however, occasionally take a larger meal such as a fawn or an injured or sick mule deer. These bountiful meals are few and far between.

Coyotes do not generally hunt in packs, as wolves do. Generally, when you see a "pack" of coyotes, it is a family group. The male will choose one mate in the winter months and he will stay with that mate, bringing her food during a two month gestation period. Once the pups are born, the male will continue to hunt for his "family" until they are old enough to find a territory of their own.

Devils Postpile provides plenty of food and habitat for the coyotes in the Valley. They can often be heard howling and barking in the evenings, adding to the wildness of your experience.

Soda Springs Meadow and the San Joaquin River. NPS Photo The Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River The Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River is the life of the monument, flooding the lush meadows, providing valuable habitat for flora and fauna, and adding to the diversity and beauty of the entire valley. The river and its surrounding banks provide opportunities for fishing, picnicking, or simply just a place to enjoy the sounds of nature. River access is provided at multiple locations throughout the monument. Soda Springs Meadow is one of the best places to observe seasonal changes in the monument. As summer progresses, the river's depth and flow wanes, revealing previously submerged gravel bars and the soda springs. View current river flow at the monument.

Devils Postpile NPS Photo Devils Postpile Approximately 80,000 years ago, lava flowed from a yet-to-be-discovered location upstream from the current monument boundary. As it flowed down the valley, it eventually ran into an obstruction that served as a dam to the lava's path. Pooling up to 400 feet behind the natural dam, the lava cooled. Conditions were such that the lava, which was incredibly uniform in its mineral composition, cooled at a very slow rate. As it cooled, it contracted and cracked, forming hexagonal columns. About 65,000 years later, a glacier flowed through the same valley, revealing the sides and tops of the columns. Glacial polish is still visible at the top of the formation.

Rainbow Falls NPS Photo Rainbow Falls Just a 2.5-mile walk from the monument's ranger station, Rainbow Falls is the highest waterfall on the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin river. Plunging 101-feet down, the falls are aptly named for the many rainbows that appear in its mist on sunny summer days. Visitors interested in a moderate day hike can make a loop, embarking from the ranger station's trailhead to the falls and returning via shuttle bus stop 9 (Rainbow Falls Trailhead) or shuttle bus stop 10 (Reds Meadow Resort). The bus can return hikers to the monument's ranger station, other bus stops in the Reds Meadow Valley, or the Adventure Center. Be sure to bring plenty of water and sunscreen for every member in your hiking group as the walk to the Rainbow Falls is very hot, dry, and has little shade.

NPS Photo The High Sierra Devils Postpile National Monument also serves as a starting point for many wilderness trips. Surrounded by the Ansel Adams Wilderness and John Muir Wilderness , the monument provides a portal to some of the most pristine backcountry destinations in the region. Permits are required for all overnight trips in wilderness areas. Day hikes do not require permits. Visitors planning on a backpacking trip out of the Reds Meadow Valley, including Devils Postpile National Monument, must obtain wilderness permits from the Inyo National Forest. These are available at the Mammoth Lakes Welcome Center or any other Inyo National Forest permit center, and reservations must be made online at Recreation.gov . Devils Postpile National Monument does not issue wilderness permits. The most current regulations and trail quotas can be found by visiting Inyo National Forest's website or by phoning the Inyo's Wilderness Permit Office at 760/873-2483.