Want to own 900 acres and a home inside Yosemite?

Largest final piece of Muir’s vision listed

By David Caraccio The Sacramento Bee • June 24, 2020 3:30 pm
With a conservation easement in place, the new owner can enjoy direct access to tens of thousands of acres of neighboring Yosemite National Park and the Sierra National Forest. (Scott Wreyford/California Outdoor Properties)
With a conservation easement in place, the new owner can enjoy direct access to tens of thousands of acres of neighboring Yosemite National Park and the Sierra National Forest. (Scott Wreyford/California Outdoor Properties)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An 896-acre property inside the gates of Yosemite National Park has hit the market for $2.477 million.

Owned by the Pacific Forest Trust, the land includes a 2,500-square-foot mountain cabin home sitting among towering conifers and Sierra outcrops. Built in 1973, the home at 7392 Henness Ridge Road features high beams, a wood frame and decks out the front and back with outstanding views.

The main residence and a downstairs apartment have separate entrances, and there are areas on the property to build other homes.

With a conservation easement in place, the owner can enjoy direct access to tens of thousands of acres of neighboring Yosemite National Park and the Sierra National Forest. The parcel is near landmarks such as Glacier Point and Badger Pass Ski Area.

“The new owner will be in the unique position of being able to conserve for perpetuity a big section of land originally intended to be part of Yosemite National Park, while also being in the enviable position of having a house in a national park,” according to the listing by California Outdoor Properties.

When naturalist John Muir envisioned the original boundaries for the national park, he included the lands of the Yosemite Lumber Company, on the western ridge above the Merced River, just south of the town of El Portal, according to California Outdoor Properties. When the lumber company objected, the final 1906 boundary established for Yosemite National Park skirted those holdings.

“This is the remaining large, undeveloped piece of the Yosemite Lumber Company holdings that were carved out within John Muir’s original proposed boundaries for Yosemite National Park,” Laurie Wayburn, president of the Pacific Forest Trust, said in a news release from California Outdoor Properties. “To our knowledge, our property is the largest private property remaining that is immediately adjacent to the park and that can only be accessed through the park.”

The O’Conner family bought the land from the lumber company and managed it as a guest ranch, the news release said. The land was later divided between three O’Conner children. In the 1970s a portion of the property was sold to developers who created a residential community called Yosemite West. The Pacific Forest Trust bought the remaining O’Conner tracts in 2005 to protect them and the park.

“Over the last 15 years the Pacific Forest Trust has stewarded the properties to enhance their outstanding natural qualities,” according to the news release.

“The next steward of this great property will not only enjoy it throughout their lifetime, but be passing down a living legacy, leaving their stamp in history,” said Ed Perry, the listing agent with California Outdoor Properties.

“Properties adjacent to protected public lands are the most threatened in the country with development,” said Wayburn. “As a conservation organization, we are committed to protecting the property and its natural beauty. For that reason, this sale is subject to a conservation easement that will limit development and assure the forests, meadows, streams and springs are carefully cared for in perpetuity as part of the greater Yosemite ecosystem.”