Alta Peak is in Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California, in the United States. It was established on September 25, 1890. The park spans . Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly , the park contains among its natural resources the highest point in the...

 not far from Giant Forest

Giant Forest

The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over above mean sea level in the western Sierra Nevada of California, covers an area of...

. Before 1896, the mountain was known as Tharps Peak. By 1903 it was generally known by its current name and Alta Peak appears on the Tehipite quadrangle, USGS 30 minute topographic map of 1905,
and was officially recognized by the Board on Geographic Names in 1928. The Sierra Club

Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...

 Bulletin noted that the name Alta Peak was "euphonious". A meadow on its southern slope had long been known as Alta Meadow.
A rocky outcrop, 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) southwest of the summit, is now known as Tharps Rock. Hale Tharp

Hale Tharp

Hale Dixon Tharp was a miner during the California Gold Rush, and the first non-Native American to enter Giant Forest, in what is now Sequoia National Park.-Gold Country:...

 was the first first euro-American to explore the Giant Forest area. His summer camp, a hollowed out Sequoia log near Crescent Meadow known as Tharp's Log

Tharp's Log

Tharp's Log is a hollowed giant sequoia log at Log Meadow in the Giant Forest grove of Sequoia National Park that was used as a shelter by early pioneers...

, is popular with park visitors.