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1956 Map of Mount Whitney

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Mount Whitney
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1964
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1964

About this map

Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park meet in this high-altitude survey of the Sierra Nevada crest. The map documents the intricate network of high-elevation trails and camps during the mid-1950s, centered on the towering summit of Mount Whitney. The John Muir Trail is traced as it winds through glacial basins and over steep dividers like Forester Pass, illustrating the primitive transportation routes used by early rangers and mountaineers.

Evidence of remote administrative presence is visible at the Tyndall Creek Ranger Station and Crabtree Ranger Station, which supported those traversing the High Sierra Trail. The landscape is a complex of named peaks and basins, from the broad Chagoopa Plateau to the stark Kaweah Basin. The boundary between Tulare and Inyo counties follows the Great Western Divide, separating the high lakes like Tulainyo Lake from the steep eastern drainages of Inyo National Forest.