TAKE A BREAK IN SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON

I will tell you about Sequoia National Park here, but also about King’s Canyon, because even if the parks are very different, the entrance is in the same place. In one day you can visit both. First, the park is included in the annual “America the Beautiful” pass. To visit the Sequoia part, many buses have been set up, many of them leave from the Giant Forest museum and take you to the various points of interest in the park (maybe before 9am). The parking lot is not very big so try to get there early. Some roads are even blocked for cars so it will be necessary to take the bus (for example to go to Moro Rock). Be careful, this is not the case for the King’s Canyon part where you will have to take your car.

If you take the bus to Moro Rock, you can stop at Tunnel Log. It is a tree that fell in 1937 on the road. It was then cut out so that cars could pass through it (when I was there no car could go there). It’s unusual to see such a big tree on the road!
Then we went to the Crescent Meadow. A super beautiful meadow with several large Sequoias. We even saw deer crossing the meadow not far from us. And also a black bear! But I reassure you, he was super far. The hike, like all those in Sequoia Park, is not very long, in an hour you have done the whole thing (1.7 miles / 2.7 km). On this hike, you can observe the huge roots of a fallen Sequoia. It’s impressive! Another short and pleasant hike is the big trees trail. A flat hike where I saw the most beautiful redwoods in the park. They are truly unique in the world, and have such beautiful colors! Besides, you will see many burnt inside (even sometimes just a burnt trunk). To understand the reason, I invite you to visit the Giant Forest Museum. It explains to you why certain trees are burned, and the particularity of the park. It is quite small, in 30 minutes you will have gone around, but it is interesting.
Do not miss THE hike of the park, the Congress trail. From there, you can see the General Sherman Tree which is the widest tree in the world! Just that. And once in front, it’s true that it’s really impressive to see this gigantic tree in front of you! You can continue your hike for about an hour (3 miles / 4.8 km) and see other equally impressive Sequoias which are called The House and The Senate.
If you still have time for a short walk in the forest in the middle of the Sequoias, there is also the General Grant Groove trail, which will last you less than an hour. There are several trees there. A walk that is just as pleasant as the others. If you are not very tall, you can even walk through the trunk of a fallen tree.

This viewpoint is part of Sequoia National Park but is nothing like the hikes I have done in this park. It’s about a 30 minute round trip that brings you over a huge boulder and a beautiful 360 degree view of the park. You can see all of its flowery hills as well as some peaks. For those who are scared of heights, yes there are still exposed passages and the path is not very wide. But honestly the hike is not very long. Up to you.

Kings Canyon is the other side of the national park. I found the landscapes to be completely different from the Sequoia part. The vegetation is not the same, nor the views. To visit this part of the park, it is generally route 180 which goes to the bottom of the Canyon. You have several points of view where you can stop on the side of the road. At the start of the road, the viewpoints are high up, you see the hills and the rivers below. The further you go, the deeper you go into the canyon. The road is really nice to do. We stopped at 2 small waterfalls, Grizzly Falls and Roaring River Falls. These waterfalls are both accessible in 5 minutes on foot from a car park. If you have time, they are worth checking out. To do the whole route with the different photo stops, I would say that a good 2 hours will be enough for you. Remember that you are coming back by the same route.

I really liked Sequoia & Kings Canyon. Few people include it in their national parks road trip and yet, seeing these huge trees in front of you is something! Huge and impressive trunks. The hikes are short but very pleasant, it’s a short break between the national parks where you walk a lot more.

RV SPACE CAMP SITE
In road 180, King’s Canyon
Price: $37,50 – €36 / night / person for a tent spot
Click here to book a night.

I went to this national park on the worst weekend for reservations (memorial day). So I had a lot of trouble finding a location. But thanks to Hipcamp, I was able to find a location in the park, so perfect!