Sequoia and King Canyon National Parks Reviews (Three Rivers, California)

Remote 'rival to the Yosemite'

Ozarks, Missouri

October 11, 2008

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Best of IgoUgo In the vast Sierra wilderness, far to the southward of the famous Yosemite Valley, there is yet a grander valley of the same kind. It is situated on the south fork of the Kings River, above the most extensive groves and forests of the giant sequoia, ...Read more In the vast Sierra wilderness, far to the southward of the famous Yosemite Valley, there is yet a grander valley of the same kind. It is situated on the south fork of the Kings River, above the most extensive groves and forests of the giant sequoia, and beneath the shadows of the highest mountains in the range, where canyons are the deepest and the snow-laden peaks are crowded most closely together.—John Muir, 1891

This is a line of a park, perhaps a Yosemite squeezed into a tighter cross-section and thus without the broad valley floor. Without the crowds, too: it’s not easy to reach, but we were rewarded with spectacular views down the narrow river valley, its sheer granite rock faces rising above the river and the roadbed.

Kings Canyon shares its southern boundary with Sequoia NP, and the two are administered as one unit. In fact, you can’t get (by car) to Kings Canyon without driving through part of Sequoia (its little NW corner, containing the General Grant tree and surrounding sequoia grove), and one $20 admission gives you a week’s access to both parks.

This place is large, but only one road enters the park, and none cross it. The eastern boundary lies along the ridgeline of the Sierras, dotted with a series of peaks that push into five figures of altitude (including 14,491’ Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental US). The backcountry is said to be spectacular, with alpine lakes and magnificent scenery that must indeed be spectacular if it outpaces the small piece that we visited.

Highway 180 leaves Grant Grove in this odd little disconnected section of Kings Canyon that began life as General Grant NP. The road is a 35-mile long spur that soon flanks the South Fork of the Kings River, terminating (appropriately enough) at Road’s End. The real journey begins not long after you pass Kings Canyon Lodge, an iconoclastic throwback of a place that maintains its first-generation gas pumps, cheap rooms, and decent ice cream without the need for any web presence at all. We pulled in after lunch, and woke the surly teen that eventually provided us with two overpriced but deeply appreciated cones. You may wish to stop for gas: no fuel is sold in either of these two parks, and it will be a while before you’ll have other options.

You’ve climbed some to get this far, and a mile past the lodge, you get your reward: a terrific view down the canyon from Yucca Point, from which the road descends to the valley floor to follow the river. We encountered three German travelers here, providing each other with the obligatory service as each other’s trip photographers. The day was a little hazy, but the view was still worth lingering for.

The road was recently repaved, as evidence by new guardrails and nearly spotless pavement. Kings Canyon is even deeper than the Grand Canyon—it’s 8,000 feet below the mountain ridges above—and you do feel as if you’ve entered a deep, long trench. It isn’t a match for Yosemite Valley, which spreads out gloriously for a mile on either side of its river. Here, there are no lush meadows or slowly moving streams. Instead, the Kings rushes down the middle with young, fresh rocks jutting out all over the place, looking impervious to change except for the agent responsible for all this carving running smack through the middle of it.

It’s about 15 miles to the park’s boundary, and 20-30 minutes drive from Yucca Point (and 30 miles/1 hour from Grant Grove). This is the center of ‘activity’ in the park, where the modest visitor center is located, along with the park store, some of the campgrounds, and the Cedar Grove Lodge that provides the only hotel accommodations in this section of the park (and only 18 rooms). We pulled in for a stop, chatted with the ranger, worked on a junior ranger badge, and listened to the elderly gentleman who sold us batteries in the camp store. As we suspected, he didn’t get a lot of customers (and would gladly have talked to us longer), but he couldn’t say enough about the park’s beauty, which he explored every chance he got.

As we headed back to the car to continue towards Road’s End, we spotted a few deer grazing between the young pine trees between the buildings. Unlike the deer in Yosemite, they weren’t used to having humans around, and we had to move carefully to keep them in sight and get the obligatory pictures. We crossed back over the Kings River, stopping at Canyon View and another viewpoint for pictures and neck-breaking appreciation of the canyon’s depth. The glacial nature of the valley is fully apparent from the nearly perfect U-shaped profile above the river.

We made a short hike to Roaring River Falls just to the south of the road, and in an unanticipated surprise, laid down on Muir Rock, a gigantic glacial oddity on the river’s edge. It was here that John Muir spoke often about the beauty of the Sierras, and the worth of preserving this area and the sequoias. It’s amazing to think about Muir and a crowd of people reaching this spot in the first decade of the 20th century: no paved road, no nearby towns, no park infrastructure. It must have taken a major expedition to reach this location with an audience in tow.

I lay on my back and looked up at the sky and mountains, then down at the river. The only sounds were the running water and a little bit of wind in the trees. It wasn’t so hard to imagine Muir here, 100 years ago, imploring the beginnings of the Sierra Club to preserve this wilderness, and not sacrifice it to logging, cattle, or sheep.

It took a long time to set this area aside. Muir's description of Kings Canyon as ‘a rival to the Yosemite’ wasn’t enough to preserve it. The Canyon survived plans to dam the Kings River and turn the valley into a reservoir, to log the area, and to expand access and build a ski resort. Despite nearly seven decades as a park, it has yet to see a fraction of the development that its other Sierra neighbors have experienced. Ironically, that’s due in large part to the stubbornness of the original concessionaire, who resisted all attempts to force him to build facilities here when he could be improving his holdings at Sequoia’s Giant Forest, which was already drawing crowds. It’s an odd turn on Muir’s belief that such places should be saved from the ravages of commerce: he feared the impulse that led humans to log these forests, and believed that we would "sell the rain clouds and the snow and the rivers to be cut up and carried away, if that were possible." In the end, commerce proved to be his ally. I’m sure he would have approved. Close

From journal California Bold Rush

Great Stop on the Way to Kings Canyon

by callen60

Ozarks, Missouri

October 11, 2008

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Best of IgoUgo Caves were an unexpected bonus of our trip into the Sierras. I’d read about Boyden Cavern in AAA’s California TourBook as we planned our trip. A subterranean exploration sounded good to my daughter, so as we drove up Kings Canyon, we pulled off into ...Read more Caves were an unexpected bonus of our trip into the Sierras. I’d read about Boyden Cavern in AAA’s California TourBook as we planned our trip. A subterranean exploration sounded good to my daughter, so as we drove up Kings Canyon, we pulled off into a parking area that barely fit between the river and the mountains.

This cavern lies in Sequoia National Forest, between the two sections of Kings Canyon National Park. To get there from Sequoia NP, you exit out the northwest corner, and then make a giant U-turn on Highway 180, which eventually dead ends in the middle of Kings Canyon NP. It’s almost 15 miles from ‘the Wye’ intersection just south of Grant Grove in the section of Kings Canyon that protrudes off Sequoia’s NW corner like a horn (part of this piece was originally General Grant NP). You can only get to Boyden this way, so if you haven’t paid the $20 entrance fee to Sequoia/Kings Canyon, you’ll have to do so on your way through the park.

The cavern itself is a concession within the National Forest, and a relic from another era. The entire area is a huge change from Yosemite’s crowds and the lesser but still substantial throngs in Sequoia. Few people make the drive into Kings Canyon, and we found only a handful of cars in the lot. We shopped in the gift store for a while, waiting for the next tour to begin, which reminded me of the souvenir stores of the sixties and seventies I visited as a kid.

Our group was six: the two of us, a young couple, a guide-in-training, and a vet who was observing him. The cave’s entrance is up the mountainside from the parking lot, a five to ten minute climb up a paved path. The nearly round, 10-foot wide entrance is closed with a padlocked gate that guides unlock. It’s a recent addition, added to protect against vandalism (a theme I’ve heard at far too many other caves, especially in my native, cave-riddled Ozarks).

Boyden is part of a 5-mile-long network, but your tour won’t take you quite that far. We went back about 800 feet, more than enough to awaken my usually dormant claustrophobia (which I was able to subdue). The passageway is fairly broad, with the exception of one neck that isn’t too tight of a squeeze.

The geology here is marble, and the formations in the cave range from ordinary to nearly spectacular. Curtains descend from the ceiling, layer cakes rise up from the floor, and drip castles are everywhere. It’s impressive to see what erosion can carve out of marble: I was surprised to learn that this cave is just one of many that riddle the mountains either side of Kings Canyon, and dot Sequoia as well, which holds over 200 caves.

Like most caves, it’s a comfortable 55 degrees or so, making a fleece a nice option to have along. The walkway is paved, and there’s a handrail wherever one is necessary. The lighting is adequate, but not overbearing. At the back of the cave, our guide asked everyone’s assent before dousing the lights for a while to experience the cave’s natural darkness. That was a neat experience, but I was glad to have the bulbs come back on again.

This cavern was carved by a ‘river’ that runs down into the rock, and drains out through the cave’s entrance. On the way back, the guides offered us the option of hiking back along the largely dry riverbed, which all four of us did. This required a little more ducking and care about placing your foot, but nothing serious.

All in all, Boyden seems like a reasonable substitute for Crystal Cave, the highly popular attraction in Sequoia NP, for which tickets must be acquired in advance at one of the park visitor centers. You can just roll up to Boyden, and even if you’re just coming for the cave tour, the drive will be worth it. Close

From journal California Bold Rush

Auto Log & Tunnel Log

by applejacks

Irvine, California

October 11, 2006

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Best of IgoUgo Auto Log and Tunnel Log are two nostalgic pieces of Sequoia National Park's history. They are located near each other in an easily accessible part of the park and take only a few minutes a piece to view and photograph. Highly recommended when you ...Read more

From journal Fall Weekends in Sequoia National Park

Big Trees Trail

by applejacks

Irvine, California

October 7, 2006

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The Big Trees Trail is a 1.2 mile loop trail that is paved and handicap accessible. It circles Round Meadow in the Giant Forest section of Sequoia National Forest. The trail can be reached by parking at the Giant Forest Museum and following the ...Read more

From journal Fall Weekends in Sequoia National Park

Kings Canyon/Sequoia

by Emily May

Pensacola, Florida

February 8, 2006

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Although two separate national parks, they seem to blend into one another. Generally, Sequoia is the bigger draw, with the largest trees in the world. Sequoias are the thick ones; Redwoods are the tall ones and can be found in northern California. ...Read more

From journal Seattle to Florida... and Everything in Between

Sequoia National Park

by ext212

New York, New York

August 28, 2005

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Best of IgoUgo Day 2 started with a 5-hour drive to Sequoia National Park. Inside Sequoia National Park, we checked in Wuksachi Lodge and moved our luggage and food to our deluxe room in the Silliman building. We were warned about the bears that roam the area, ...Read more Day 2 started with a 5-hour drive to Sequoia National Park. Inside Sequoia National Park, we checked in Wuksachi Lodge and moved our luggage and food to our deluxe room in the Silliman building. We were warned about the bears that roam the area, especially at night.

After the sun came down a bit, we started our stroll along the Big Trees Trail. Reading the exhibit-style explanations along our route, we learned plenty about the trees. Redwoods and sequoias are in the same family but are different species. The redwoods, sequoia sempervirens, are the world’s tallest tree. The sequoias, sequoiadendron giganteum, are the world’s largest in terms of total volume of wood and are only grow in the west slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The trail skirts around the Round Meadow, as if the sequoias were guarding the flower beds in the middle. No sequoias grow in the meadow because the moisture level here was excessive and limited gas exchange from the trees’ roots. Any seedlings that sprouted here would die early. We also saw a lot of trunks with burn scars. The rangers perform controlled fires in the park to help the trees to reproduce.

We stopped by the Auto Log, a short pathway cut on top of a fallen sequoia to help visitors like us compare our cars to the size of the giant trees. If that is not enough to inspire awe, the Tunnel Log found at the end of Crescent Meadow Road provides another example of the scale of a normal sequoia. A tunnel was cut through the fallen tree to allow cars through. On the way back to our lodge, we said hello to General Sherman, the largest living thing on earth. We split our time trying to figure out how to fit the entire tree in our camera’s viewfinder and swatting the mosquitoes that bombarded our arms and legs.

By the time we ran back to our parked car, we had several shots of what is the official Christmas tree of the nation and about five insect bites each. We later learned that the tree was named in honor of General William Tecumseh Sherman who served as a lieutenant during the Civil War. In fact, a lot of the sequoias are named to honor military leaders.

We drove to the Moro Rock and climbed all four hundred steps to get a panoramic view of the Great Western Divide and the high Sierra canyons. The trail is only a quarter-mile trail, but the steep granite steps certainly made us feel like we were climbing more.

I finally got to experience what I had only seen in National Geographic magazines when I was a child. Close

From journal Doing the Bay the Right Way

Sequoia National Park

by elellilrah

Temecula, California

December 1, 2004

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Camping in Sequoia in the winter is a wonderful experience. The first night, the campground had about 30 people total there, and they were quite spread out. It was quite cold (15 degrees), so there wasn't too much noise from people running around. ...Read more

From journal Winter backpacking in Sequoia

Squioia National Park

by ameliarci

Indianapolis, Indiana

May 27, 2004

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These trees are really really big. The park rangers are nice. Watch the videos at the ranger stations to hear more about the history and the life cycles of these trees.

From journal NAPA & YOSEMITE PARK

King's Canyon National Park

by ameliarci

Indianapolis, Indiana

May 27, 2004

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The park is nice, the lake is great, the snow gets really deep in the winter, the rivers are cold, and the lions are hungry.

From journal NAPA & YOSEMITE PARK

Sequoia National Park

by Julie Hood

Galveston, Texas, Texas

July 19, 2000

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The campgrounds are nice and shady during the day but at night are very dark. Using the bear-proof containers is good idea or you may get unwanted visitors during the night. Nothing fancy but all amenities are provided.

From journal THE GIANTS OF SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK

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Sequoia and King Canyon National Parks

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Remote 'rival to the Yosemite'

Great Stop on the Way to Kings Canyon

Auto Log & Tunnel Log

Big Trees Trail

Kings Canyon/Sequoia

Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park

Squioia National Park

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Sequoia and King Canyon National Parks

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Remote 'rival to the Yosemite'

Great Stop on the Way to Kings Canyon

Auto Log & Tunnel Log

Big Trees Trail

Kings Canyon/Sequoia

Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park

Squioia National Park

King's Canyon National Park

Sequoia National Park