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HIGH SIERRA Come play and explore in this temple of nature by john flinn INTERNATIONAL GATEWAY Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO), 3 miles from Reno, Nevada city center TOURISM WEBSITES yosemitepark.com visitinglaketahoe.com tahoesouth.com yosemitethisyear.com visitmammoth.com POPULATION 600,000 HIGH SIERRA 154 2013 travel guide to c al ifo r n i a to call it "The Range of Light," but that wasn't the naturalist's only pet name for the Sierra Nevada: He also called it "God's mountain mansion" and "The grandest special temple of nature I was ever permitted to enter." You get the idea he was rather fond of the place. It's not just the radiant light that drew Muir—and continues to draw people—to the Sierra again and again. It's the pristine lakes and rivers, the dramatic hiking and biking trails, the contrast between the green meadows and granite battlements. The Sierra Nevada (Spanish for "snowy mountains") may be one of the highest and most majestic mountain ranges in North America, but it's also one of the most accessible and user-friendly. Stretching 400 miles from north to south, and about 70 from east to west, it's crossed by seven highways— four of them open all year—and encompasses everything from Lake Tahoe— where you might find yourself crowding shoulder-to-shoulder around a boisterous craps table—to remote canyons in Yosemite or Kings Canyon national parks where you can spend a silent and solitary afternoon watching Muir's favorite bird, the water ouzel, plunge into waterfalls and cascades. In a state with no shortage of superlatives, the region has more than its share: It can boast the world's oldest tree, the world's most massive tree, the Old West's largest ghost town, the nation's highest waterfall and—until Alaska came along and rewrote the record books—the nation's highest peak. The range is home to three national parks, 15 state parks, two national monuments and 20 officially designated wilderness areas. Hikers get itchy feet at the mere mention of its celebrated walking paths: the John Muir Trail; JOHN MUIR LIKED IKATRINA LEIGH; OPPOSITE: SKY COLLINS; MAMMOTH VISITORS AND CONVENTION BUREAU TOP CITIES South Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Tahoe City, Bishop, Mammoth Lakes, Oakhurst, Madera