Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

These two parks were so close together, we set up camp between the two and just drove to them both to make our lives easier with the camper. We were excited to visit Sequoias since it has General Sherman (aka the big daddy tree), but we've seen such big trees in the Redwoods, we weren't convinced that these trees could get any bigger! As for King's Canyon, it's a bonus national park. We didn't know much about it, like Lassen Volcanic and Pinnacles, but I'm sure it'll wow us like all the others have.

Trip Details:

Where: Sequoia National Park, CA and Kings Canyon National Park, CA

Campsite: Three Rivers Hideaway, site 26

Length: 3 days

Itinerary:

Day 1: Rest Day/River and swim day!

Day 2: Sequoia National Park/swim day!

Day 3: Kings Canyon National Park

Sequoia:

Charlotte’s Highlights: Seeing General Sherman tree (largest in the world)

Paige’s Highlights: Driving through the big tree!

Adult’s Highlights: All the hikes were beautiful and seeing the meadows

Kings Canyon:

Charlotte’s Highlights: Seeing General Grant tree (widest in the world)

Paige’s Highlights: Seeing that canyon, valley. Whatever it's called.

Adult’s Highlights: Swimming in the waterfall and seeing the canyon vistas

The weather was much hotter in the area than we anticipated. The day we arrived it was 100 degrees and cooling down the camper was a challenge. Paige was a bit hot in the bottom bunk that night, so she improvised (see feet below). The next morning, we were ready for a full day of hiking!

Even thought the camp side was 100 degrees, going up to the mountains had about a 20 degree shift so we spent a lot of time at Sequoia National Park, from practically sun up to sun down. This was a beautiful park and reminded us a lot of Redwoods with all the tall and wide trees! This was a different national park sign than most, as it was carved out of Sequoia wood in 1935. When we read about it, we learned that Sequoia was the second oldest national park in the US (behind Yellowstone), and was created to stop logging in the area.

This is a well thought-out park. They have a great bus route and driving to trails if you want to take a chance on finding a parking spot. We chose to start the morning with a 6 mile hike from the visitor's center to General Sherman. We took Bear Hill Trail to Alta Trail to Congress Trail. The trees provided a ton of shade and since we got there early, there wasn't anyone on the trails and the views were vast.

Our hike also took us around Circle Meadow, which was so peaceful.

Along our hike, we saw Black Arch, which was a burned hole in the Sequoia. We learned Sequoia trees have such thick bark with little to no sap, that they are well protected from fire.

When we finally made it to General Sherman, it didn't look the biggest. Learning more about the tree, it's actually the biggest by volume, not height or width. It's 2,200 years old and is 36.5 feet in diameter at its base. If General Sherman's trunk was filled with water, it would provide enough water for 9,844 baths - that would be 1 bath every day for 27 years!!

We hopped on a shuttle to Moro Rock to hike up the dome and see some vistas! To get to the top of this giant dome, we climbed over 350 steps, elevation of 6700 feet. These vistas were the High Sierra peaks.

The girls were tired, but we stopped for one last hike to Tharp's Log. This hike took us past Crescent Meadow, to Tharp's Log, which is a fallen giant Sequoia on the north side of Log Meadow that was converted to a shelter by pioneers.

We went back to the visitors center by bus to get the girls sworn in as a Sequoia and Kings Canyon Junior Ranger, then drove through the iconic Tunnel Log.

After a long day of hiking (a little over 8 miles), the girls earned some more swimming hole time!

The next day, we ventured to Kings Canyon National Park. This is an interesting park, as there are two sections of the park, separated by Sequoia National Forest. It takes about an hour drive to get from the west side to the larger east side of the park. Since our feet were hurting from yesterday's Sequoia adventures, we made sure to pick easier hikes, which worked well since this was a good drivable national park.

Our first stop was at, you guessed it, another tree - General Grant Tree. This tree is the widest tree in the world at 40 feet in diameter. It would take about 20 people holding hands to make a complete circle around the base. I'm going to let that sink in for a second... President Coolidge proclaimed the General Grant tree to be the Nation's Christmas tree in 1929, and in 1956 President Eisenhower designated it a National Shrine - a living memorial to those who have given their lives for their country.

As we hiked the Grant Tree Trail back to the car, we stopped at the Fallen Monarch. These trees are so big, we were able to walk though it and it would make a great shelter if needed. Even after they fall, sequoia's endure since they resist decay for hundreds of years on the forest floor.

After an hour drive to the other half of the national park, we descended into the canyon. The views reminded us a lot of Yosemite, with the giant granite cliffs encircling us as we entered the valley. We at lunch at the base of South Fork Kings River at Lodgepole Village.

We drove to Roaring River Falls and dipped our feet in the cool waters of a waterfall.

Then we drove a little more to Zumwalt Meadow for some more views of this beautiful national park. The meadows in these parks are the most under-rated parts. They're absolutely serine.

We decided to name this area of Kings Canyon, "Little Yosemite" since it's just a smaller version! Both were in valleys surrounded by granite cliffs, had a river running through the middle and meadows throughout.

So on this trip, we've seen the tallest tree (Redwood) and the widest tree (Sequoia). Here's a comparison:

Left: Redwood

Right: Sequoia - which needs Paiges' 3' walking stick to reach Aaron!

From here it's onward to the beach! Faria Beach Park is just a short 3 hour drive south and sits right on the Pacific Coast Highway. We're really looking forward to some lounge time in the warm sun and snorkeling. Thanks for coming on our adventure! Until next time….

~ Mary