Selling the Sublime

Mirror Lake's magnificent scenery became a commodity to be harvested along with ice and sand. In the 1860s, entrepreneurs built a toll road to the lake, and at the end of the carriage road they opened an inn in 1870. Later the inn became a saloon, boats were available for hire, and a dance pavilion was built out over the water for the entertainment of guests. Since the early days of Yosemite's preservation as a park, understanding of wilderness has slowly evolved as people recognized it as finite and fragile. A growing sense of wilderness stewardship now characterizes Yosemite and its visitors, and nature and its processes are allowed to prevail without attempts to improve them.

California · United States