Yosemite

The Yosemite Region climbs from Valley oak country at 500 feet to granite pine at 4,000 — Mariposa and Madera counties wrap the park’s western flank. Vineyards hold the lower elevations, where summer sun sets zinfandel and barbera hard and river canyons cool the nights fast. Coulterville, Mariposa, Oakhurst — tasting rooms are barns and farmhouses, patios are lawns, and dogs get the welcome kids do. From a porch glass you can see the Sierra crest. Walk Hite Cove trail with a leash, pour something at an Oakhurst farmhouse, and watch the granite go pink at dusk. The region keeps giving.