Devils Postpile National Monument - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting
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About Devils Postpile National Monument
Devils Postpile National Monument is a United States national monument located in Madera County in the Sierra Nevada region of the state of California.The monument protects Devils Postpile, an unusual rock formation of columnar basalt. It encompasses 798 acres and includes two main attractions: the Devils Postpile formation and Rainbow Falls, a waterfall on the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River.

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Attractions Near Devils Postpile National Monument
Rainbow Falls
1.58km from Devils Postpile National Monument
This is the highest waterfall on the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River, in the eastern Sierra Nevada. As water rushes over the cliff, it erodes the vertically fractured rhyodacite more easily. A small cavern begins to form at the base of the falls, and the overlying rock loses its support and collapses. This process, known as undercutting, causes the waterfall to recede slowly upstream.
Red Cones
3.97km from Devils Postpile National Monument
The Red Cones are a pair of cinder cones near Devils Postpile National Monument, in eastern Madera County of central California. They are within the eastern Sierra Nevada and Inyo National Forest. They last erupted approximately 5000 years ago, with both cinder eruption, and a basalt flow from the southern cone.
John Muir Trail
4.09km from Devils Postpile National Monument
A beautiful trail, which is 211 miles long and runs from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney, in California. Winding through the famed Sierra Nevada, the JMT visits some of the crown jewels of America’s park system. The vast majority of the trail is situated within designated wilderness. The trail passes through large swaths of alpine and high mountain scenery, and lies almost entirely at or above 8,000 feet in elevation. The trail has been described as "America's most famous trail.
Minaret Vista
5.15km from Devils Postpile National Monument
This is a mountain pass on Highway 203 in the central Sierra Nevada. The pass, lying on the Madera-Mono County border, is within the Mammoth Ranger District of the Inyo National Forest and located near Devils Postpile National Monument, Mammoth Lakes, and Mammoth Mountain. It offers views of the Ritter Range, including The Minarets, Mount Ritter and Banner Peak, to the west and the Long Valley Caldera, the Glass Mountains and the White Mountains to the east.
Minaret Lake
7.87km from Devils Postpile National Monument
Minaret Lake is a lake in the Ritter Range, a subrange of the Sierra Nevada, in California. It is located in extreme northeastern Madera County, within the Ansel Adams Wilderness of the Inyo National Forest. It is one of the iconic attraction in this area and there are also so many things to see and do here.
Minarets
9.5km from Devils Postpile National Monument
Minarets is a former settlement in Madera County, California. It was located 5 miles southeast of North. The name Minarets was applied to a geologic feature in the county; see Minarets. The name was applied to a city planned as the county seat for the then newly established Madera County located 15 miles east of Madera.
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Madera County
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Madera is the Spanish term for wood. The county derives its name from the town of Madera, named when the California Lumber Company built a log flume to carry lumber to the Central Pacific Railroad there in 1876.