Sequoia National Park

Photos

Sequoia National Park was established on September 25, 1890.  The park contains the highest point in the contiguous 48 United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet above sea level.  The park is south of and contiguous with Kings Canyon National Park; the two are administered by the National Park Service together as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

The park is famous for its giant sequoia trees, including the General Sherman tree, the largest tree on Earth.  The General Sherman tree grows in the Giant Forest, which contains five out of the ten largest trees in the world.  The Giant Forest is connected by the Generals Highway to Kings Canyon National Park's General Grant Grove, home to the General Grant tree (second largest) among other giant sequoias.

Depending on the amount of time you have, decide whether you will visit Mineral King, Foothills, Giant Forest (all part of Sequoia NP), Grant Grove or Cedar Grove (part of Kings Canyon.)

Things to do (going Southward):

• Redwood Canyon - The trailhead for this area is 2 miles down a rough dirt road 6 miles south of Grant Grove (turn right where you see maintenance yard on the left.  This road is closed to vehicle traffic in the winter.)  Redwood Canyon is one of the largest of all sequoia groves. Sixteen miles of trail are available for short walks, day hikes and overnight backpacking trips.  As you hike through sequoia/mixed conifer forest, meadow and shrub land, you will see sign of many fires, some recent, some ancient. The result of 30 years of prescribed fires, showing the positive relationship between fire and sequoias.

  

  Burned tree still standing

• Buena Vista Peak - The 2 mile round-trip hike up this granite peak begins just south of the Kings Canyon Overlook on the Generals Highway, 6 miles southeast of Grant Grove. From the top of Buena Vista Peak, a 360-degree view looks out over the majestic sequoias in Redwood Canyon, Buck Rock Fire Tower, and beyond to a splendid panorama of the high Sierra.

  

  Buck Rock

  

  Smog over Fresno, CA

  

  Buena Peak Trail

  

  Buena Peak Trail

  

  View from Buena Vista Peak

  

  Balancing Rocks at Buena Vista Peak

  

  Balancing Rocks at Buena Vista Peak

  
  
• Big Baldy Ridge - This trail offers great views out and down into Redwood Canyon.  A two-mile to the summit at 8209 feet.  From Grant Grove, go 8 miles south on Generals Highway to trailhead.  Elevation gain 600 feet; roundtrip 4 miles.
• Tokopah Falls - The trail to Tokopah Falls starts just beyond the Marble Fork Bridge in Lodgepole Campground.  Drive all the way to the end within the campground and park near the bridge.  It is an easy 1.7 mile one-way walk along the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River to the impressive granite cliffs and cascading waterfall of Tokopah Canyon.  Tokopah Falls is 1200 feet high, and is most impressive in early summer.  A short patch of the trail requires you to scramble over rocks and boulders, but is otherwise fairly smooth.  (3.4 miles, 500 ft elevation gain).
• General Sherman Tree - The main parking area and trailhead are near Wolverton Road, off the Generals Highway just north of the tree itself (between Lodgepole and the Sherman Tree). From there, the 1/2-mile trail descends and includes some stairs.  The big tree is more than 2,000 years old and has the distinction of being the largest living tree in the world. A short loop around Sherman tree has other interesting trees.  Congress Trail shoots off and has a short and a long loop - as your time permits. 

  

  General Sherman Tree

• The Big Trees Trail - This 2/3 mile trail circles Round Meadow.  Colorful trailside panels describe sequoia ecology.  Start at Giant Forest Museum and follow the paved, accessible trail from there.  Allow 1 hour round trip.
• Moro Rock - To reach the top of this granite dome, follow a stairway that climbs 300 feet  to the summit.  A spectacular view of the Great Western Divide and the western half of the park. The parking area is two miles from the Generals Highway.  The climb is steep and at times narrow, but railing is available throughout.  Nearby Tunnel Log, Auto log and Hanging Rock are also worth visiting.  
• In less than an hour, you can drive the Moro Rock-Crescent Meadow Road. Stop at Moro Rock, a large granite dome; Tunnel Log, a fallen sequoia that you can drive through; and Crescent Meadow, a lovely mid-elevation meadow. Add 60 minutes to climb Moro Rock and 60 minutes to walk around the meadow.
  

  

  Tunnel Log

  

  Tunnel Log

  Also, don't miss the hollow tree near Moro Rock.

Hollow Tree is still alive

SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE (USFS)

The Sequoia National Forest, named for the world's largest trees, celebrates the greatest concentration of giant sequoia groves in the world. Protected within the Giant Sequoia National Monument, these groves and the areas around them are managed by the USFS for today and for future generations.

A publicly owned treasure, visitors to the Giant Sequoia National Monument will find not only majestic trees, but also diverse geologic formations, ecosystems, wildlife and lakes. For more information, call (559) 784-1500 or visit www.fs.usda.gov/sequoia.

KINGS CANYON PARK SERVICES COMPANY (KCPS)

KCPS operates the Montecito Sequoia Lodge and the Stony Creek Lodge. Both facilities provide lodging and dining in the Giant Sequoia National Monument, located between Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. For reservations or for more information, call (877) 828-1440 or visit sequoia-kingscanyon.com.

Kings Canyon National Park

Kings Canyon National Park - originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, it was greatly expanded and renamed to Kings Canyon National Park on March 4, 1940.  Its namesake, Kings Canyon, is a rugged glacier-carved valley more than a mile deep; the park also includes multiple 14,000-foot peaks, high mountain meadows, swift-flowing rivers, and some of the world's largest stands of giant sequoia trees. Tourist facilities are concentrated in two areas: Grant Grove, home to General Grant (the second largest tree in the world, measured by trunk volume) and Cedar Grove/Kanawyers, located in the heart of Kings Canyon.

The park is retained as a more natural environment restricted to simpler recreation such as hiking and camping.  It has only limited services and lodgings despite its size.  Due to this and the lack of road access to most of the park, Kings Canyon remains the least visited of the major Sierra parks, with just over 600,000 visitors in 2016 compared to 1.2 million visitors at Sequoia and over 5 million at Yosemite.

Depending on the amount of time you have, decide whether you will visit Grant Grove or Cedar Grove.

GRANT GROVE

At Grant Grove, near the Kings Canyon entrance, you'll want ample time to see the General Grant Tree. The General Grant is the second-largest tree on Earth. From the parking area, take a gently graded 0.3-mile, self-guiding trail that passes by other impressive giant sequoias, historic Gamlin Cabin and Fallen Monarch Tree, in which the cavalry guarding the park in the 1890s stabled their horses. At 268.1 feet tall and 107.5 feet around, it was discovered by Joseph Hardin Thomas in 1862 and named by Lucretia P. Baker in 1867 to honor Ulysses S. Grant. While still a youngster at 1,800 to 2,000 years old, the beautiful behemoth is the star attraction of a grove of 2,000 to 3,000-year-old sequoias. The General Grant tree is called "The Nation's Christmas Tree," and the town of Sanger, California, hosts a special Yuletide celebration under its snow-laden branches every year.

PANORAMIC POINT
At Grant Grove Village, you can take a steep and narrow 2.5-mile road that snakes east to Panoramic Point. From the parking area, take the 0.25-mile trail to the 7,520-foot ridge. The view is a magnificent stretch of the High Sierra. You can see Hume Lake in Sequoia National Forest and, just beyond a low ridge behind the lake,

CEDAR GROVE

If you decide to visit Cedar Grove in Kings Canyon, you will be treated to a lush place of tumbling waterfalls, meadows and miles of quiet trails. Half the excitement is the 1-hour drive getting there on Highway 180, which zigzags down into the canyon through Sequoia National Forest. Be sure to stop at Junction View on the way. Sheer canyon walls seem to close in around you as the wild South Fork of the Kings River surges over rapids far below.

Cedar Grove attractions include North Dome, which some say resembles Yosemite's Half Dome, noisy and powerful Roaring River Falls and scenic Zumwalt Meadow.

Roaring River Falls is less than a five-minute stroll from the parking area. During years of heavy runoff, the river pours through the gorge and over the falls with a tremendous roar. Even during the dry season the falls are impressive, thundering into a cold, green pool.

If you have an hour, walk around Zumwalt Meadow, a lovely meadow dotted with ponderosa pine. The striking rock formations of Grand Sentinel and North Dome rise protectively on opposite sides of the meadow.

Things to do:

• General Grant Tree Trail - One of the world's largest living trees. President Coolidge proclaimed it the Nation's Christmas tree in 1926.  Visit the Fallen Monarch along this 1/3 mile paved trail. North and west of the Kings Canyon Visitor Center 1 mile.
• North Grove Loop - This lightly traveled, 1 1/2 mile trail provides an opportunity for a close look at the big trees.  Enjoy a quiet walk past meadows and creeks, through mixed conifer and sequoia forest. The trailhead is at the Grant Tree parking area.
• USFS National Forest Area Converse Basin - This trail is located 6 miles north of Grant Grove. It was once the world's largest sequoia grove, until virtually every mature tree was cut down early in the 1900s.  The Boole Tree was spared, along with a few other less accessible giants.  Boole is the world's eighth largest sequoia.  Converse Basin is accessible by a graded dirt road off Highway 180.  A 2-mile round trip loop trail leads to the Boole Tree from a parking area at the end of the road.
• Roaring River Falls - A very short, shady walk (0.3 miles) to a powerful waterfall rushing through a granite chute.
• Zumwalt Meadow - This 1.5-mile trail passes high granite walls, lush meadows, and the Kings River. Trailhead parking is 4.5 miles east of Cedar Grove Village road.  Allow 1 hour.  From the parking area, over the bridge, and to the boardwalk, the river washed away hardened surfaces, so some spots are now more difficult for wheelchair travel.  The boardwalk remains passable, but beyond that, where the trail paralleled the river, the river washed over the trail leaving softened, more uneven surfaces. Repairs were being made.
  - Highway 180 ends 40 miles from the entrance to Kings Canyon National Park in the famous Kings Canyon itself. Cedar Grove, nestled in a mile-deep section of Kings Canyon, is near two spectacular granite formations: Grand Sentinel at 8,518 feet in elevation and North Dome at 8,717 feet in elevation. The precipitous Grand Sentinel rises 3,500 feet above the canyon floor. The best place in the park to see these features is on the Zumwalt Meadow Trail.

North Dome