MSFS scenery

MSFS Yosemite Valley, California Scenery

Yosemite Valley, California scenery refresh brings sharper ground and rock textures plus a cleaner, more true-to-life look to iconic landmarks including El Capitan, Half Dome, Glacier Point, and multiple waterfalls. Version 1.1 delivers a rebuilt El Capitan with high-detail color and normal mapping, available in full or lighter textures for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

5/5 (5) 4.6k downloads 925.16 MB Scanned clean

United States of America

Flight Simulator 2020

Images & Screenshots

43 total

VIDEO

A wide valley filled with dense green forest stretches between steep, rocky mountain slopes under a partly cloudy sky.

A massive granite cliff with rugged textures rises above a densely forested valley under partly cloudy skies and bright sunlight.

Several small buildings with white and yellow walls sit among tall pine trees at the base of steep rocky mountains.

A wide valley with steep rocky cliffs and dense forest is shown under a partly cloudy sky with scattered buildings below.

A small orange high-wing aircraft flies above a deep green valley with steep rocky cliffs and scattered forested slopes under partly cloudy skies.

A steep granite dome rises above forested valleys and rugged cliffs under partly cloudy skies with sunlight illuminating the distant hills.

A wide valley with dense forests winds between steep granite cliffs and a prominent dome-shaped mountain under partly cloudy skies.

A single-engine aircraft flies above a densely forested valley with dramatic granite cliffs and scattered cumulus clouds in the background.

Low clouds partially cover a winding river and steep cliffs in a densely forested mountain valley under soft sunlight.

A red business jet flies above rugged, forested mountains with steep granite cliffs and scattered low clouds in the background.

A massive granite cliff rises above dense green forests under partly cloudy skies, with distant hills and valleys extending toward the horizon.

A single-engine aircraft flies above a deep green valley surrounded by steep rocky cliffs and dense forested mountains under partly cloudy skies.

A bright orange high-wing aircraft flies above a deep green valley surrounded by dramatic cliffs and distant misty mountains.

A red and black single-engine aircraft flies above a mountainous landscape with forested valleys and scattered clouds in the sky.

A red business jet with swept wings flies above rugged green mountains and rocky cliffs partially covered by scattered clouds.

An orange high-wing aircraft flies above a deep green valley with steep cliffs and distant mountains under a partly cloudy sky.

An orange high-wing aircraft is seen in flight above a mountainous landscape with a winding river and scattered clouds in the background.

A single-engine aircraft flies through a deep mountain valley with steep rocky cliffs and scattered clouds in a bright blue sky.

Dense clouds hang low over a wide, forested valley bordered by steep rocky cliffs and rugged mountain terrain.

A steep granite cliff rises above dense green forest with a winding river below, under a sky filled with scattered clouds.

A small aircraft with illuminated wingtip lights flies above rugged forested mountains at sunset, with pink clouds scattered across the sky.

A dramatic sunset casts warm light over rugged granite cliffs and densely forested valleys beneath a sky filled with orange clouds.

A red business jet flies above scattered clouds with rugged mountain cliffs and forested valleys visible below.

A winding river flows through a densely forested valley surrounded by steep rocky mountains under a sky with scattered clouds.

Dense white clouds partially obscure a rugged mountainous landscape with rocky outcrops and forested areas visible below.

A single-engine aircraft flies above a winding river between steep, forested mountains under a bright sky with scattered clouds.

An orange single-engine aircraft with registration ASXGS flies past a steep granite mountain face under partly cloudy skies.

A rugged mountain landscape with deep valleys is seen at dusk, illuminated by a fading orange and purple sky on the horizon.

A rugged mountain landscape is shown at dusk, with deep valleys and rocky cliffs illuminated by the setting sun.

A small jet aircraft flies above a mountainous landscape with scattered clouds and sunlight illuminating the terrain below.

Dense clouds drift above a deep mountain valley with steep cliffs, winding river, and sunlight breaking through the sky.

A red and black aircraft wing and float are visible in the foreground above rugged mountain terrain at sunset with scattered clouds.

A low-wing aircraft flies past dramatic mountain cliffs and dense forests under a partly cloudy sky with sunlight reflecting off the wing.

Dense clouds and bright sunlight hang above a deep valley with steep rocky cliffs and a forested floor below.

A winding river runs through a deep, forested valley surrounded by steep cliffs under a sky filled with thick clouds and sunlight.

A deep valley with steep rocky cliffs and dense forest is illuminated by low sunlight breaking through scattered clouds.

A deep mountain valley with steep rocky cliffs is illuminated by a dramatic orange sunset sky with thick scattered clouds.

The sun shines through scattered clouds above a forested valley surrounded by steep, rocky mountain cliffs.

A small orange high-wing aircraft flies above a winding river and forested canyon, surrounded by scattered clouds under a bright sun.

Dense forested hills frame a deep valley as the sun sets behind distant cliffs, casting warm light through scattered clouds.

An orange taildragger aircraft flies above a misty canyon with a winding river below and large clouds overhead.

Dense, sunlit clouds drift over rugged, forested mountains during early morning or late evening with soft golden light illuminating the scene.

All screenshots above have been created by Fly Away Simulation and are exclusive. For more details, see our image copyright information.

Editor reviewed · Tested in-sim

Expert Overview

This Yosemite Valley mod for Microsoft Flight Simulator refreshes one of America’s most iconic national parks with upgraded ground textures, high-detail rock surfaces, and carefully reworked waterfalls. From my testing, the new 3D models of El Capitan, Half Dome, and other major landmarks appear sharp at any altitude, creating a remarkably faithful rendition of the region’s dramatic terrain. The mod’s future updates promise even more refinements, including higher-resolution geological details and functional waterfalls using the developer’s planned FX system.

As an industry veteran, I appreciate the improved realism and overall polish this scenery pack brings to Yosemite’s cliffs and valleys. Version 1.1 introduces an enhanced El Capitan model in both 16k and 4k variants, ensuring smooth performance across different hardware setups. Whether you’re flying low and slow through the valley or simply admiring the landscape from cruising altitude, this mod offers an authentic and immersive sightseeing experience that truly captures Yosemite’s grandeur.

A fun pack featuring new ground textures, rock texture upgrades, and general tidying of Yosemite Valley, California, USA for Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) 2020 release.

Yosemite Valley screenshot. ?The Yosemite valley region was not truly and faithfully represented in MSFS 2020 so this pack aims to bring the region up to true-to-life detail and has plans for ongoing (future) updates by the developer.

All of the major landmarks and highpoints in the valley are included and re-represented including;

El Capitan
Half Dome
Glacier Point
Bridalveil Falls
Yosemite Falls
Vernal & Nevada Falls

Waterfalls in the area are included and have been even hand-mastered to capture them in the highest detail.

This pack has planned future upgrades from the developer.

Planned future work by the developer:

Creating normal maps to add finer detail when viewing objects from a closer distance
Subdividing some areas of the geo and smoothing out some of the weird jagged shapes photogrammetry sometimes creates
Get the FX system working from Asobo to add working waterfalls
Get the animal SDK details to add some wandering around the park... (that said, there IS some stationary wildlife if you look very carefully)
Do more paintwork to reduce the "baked in shadows" on some of the cliff faces from the photomapping

Now version 1.1

This update is the first step in what will be a total rework of the scenery. It replaces the model of El Capitan with a more efficient medium res model but to which has been attached a very detailed color and normal map texture that looks great no matter how close you get.

There are two files to choose from. The full version uses a 16k color & normal map, and a 'medium' version where those have been downres'd to 4k each. This should hopefully help GPUs with less memory.

*** ONLY El Capitan is updated in this version, the rest of the scenery is the same as version 1.0 The process I'm using is manually intensive so I will release other areas as I finish them. Half Dome is next on the list...

Donations to the Developer

Currently, this developer does not publish a public donation page.

Developer: VFXSimmer.

Ready to download Yosemite Valley, California Scenery?

Free for all simmers · 925.16 MB · Scanned clean

File information

Filename

yosemite-valley.zip

File size

925.16 MB

Virus scan

Clean (scanned with ClamAV)

Access

Freeware

Content rating

Everyone

Download speed: Free tier is capped at 2 Mbps (this file takes approximately 1h 5m at the cap). PRO members download at full line speed.

This is a freeware file — use is subject to our freeware copyright terms.

How to install this mod

MSFS scenery

Extract the downloaded archive

Use 7-Zip (free) or WinRAR to extract the ZIP to a temporary folder. Don't install while still zipped — the simulator can't read inside ZIP files.
Locate your MSFS Community folder

All MSFS add-ons live in the Community folder. Microsoft Store / Game Pass version: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages\Community\. Steam version: %APPDATA%\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Packages\Community\. Tip: enable Developer Mode in MSFS to see your exact Community folder path.
Copy the scenery package into Community

Drag the extracted scenery folder into your Community folder. Photogrammetry and large mesh packs can be 1GB+ — ensure you have disk space.
Restart MSFS

Close MSFS completely and relaunch. The new content appears in the Content Manager, on the World Map, or in the aircraft/livery selector.
Always read the included readme

Every mod ships with a readme.txt or README file. It tells you exactly where files go, what dependencies are needed, and any quirks specific to this add-on.