As the name suggests this is two parks in one with Sequoia being one and Kings Canyon is the other. Kings Canyon has two sides with Sequoia National Forest between the two sides and Sequoia National Park below the two section of Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Forest. There are 4 visitor centers in the park with one in each of the two sections of Kings Canyon and two in Sequoia. The famous one in Sequoia is Longpole and it is almost in the middle of the Sequoia section of the park. There are plenty of Sequoia trees to see in Sequoia and there is even a shuttle service out of Longpole and Giant Forest Museum areas. The shuttles start running in late May, around Memorial Day and end early September just after Labor Day. Have plenty of fuel when you come into the park as there are no fuel stations within the park. A note is that there is some vehicle limits in Sequoia between the Foothills visitor center and Giant Forest Museum. The max length is 24 feet but that is only until you get to the Potwisha campground then it is 22 feet so be careful about the length of your vehicle. The combined parks are over 800,000 acres and have an elevation variance between 1,360 and 14,494. With the variations in elevation you can only imagine the various species of animal and plant life you will be able to find. At the higher elevations, above the tree line, the plants are really small since they are covered in snow so much of the year and reach only 2 inches in height for some. The parks also have plenty of caves as you would expect to find in a mountainous park but be careful if you are going into caves as many of them are closed to the public. The big draw to the park is the giant sequoia trees, the largest tree in the world by volume of wood. These massive trees like their cousin the red wood have a bark that is resistant to fire, insects and fungi and helps protect them during drought. The sequoia’s when the grow loose their lower limbs and only have limbs at the top of the trees. The sequoia’s trunk remains think for much of its height rather than narrowing to a point as many other conifers. Unlike most trees the sequoia has no “tap” root but their root system is shallow causing the tree to be able to be toppled by high winds, soil moisture and root damage. These three things are the leading cause of the loss of a sequoia. The parks have three sections of sequoia trees being Giant Forest, Grant Grove, and Redwood Mountain. Giant Forest has the eight largest sequoia trees including the largest General German standing at 275 feet! Grant Grove is home to the second largest tree, General Grant. The General Grant was impacted by fire but is still standing and thriving. The Grant grove was protected in 1890 by congress and was the nation’s third park after Yellowstone and Sequoia.
General Grant Trail – The trail is a paved trail that is a loop around the General Grant Tree the second largest tree in the park. General Grant stands 268 feet tall is 40 feet around and is about 1700 years old! On the trail you will also see a tree that was down in 1900 and it is still looking like it did when it went down. The tree housed people, horses, feed for the horses throughout its time after it fell. Nowadays you can walk through the tree and just see how large the tree is after all these years. There is a parking lot and overflow lot at the General Grant Trail head but you can also walk from the visitor center. The visitor center walk adds about 1 mile to your journey and the walk is through the forest, a campground and does not have much in the way of elevation gain/loss. General Grant Trail has a total distance of 1 mile for the entire loop. The drive to the trail head is about 3 minutes but if you have a spot do the extra mile hike and enjoy the day. The trail has a few spots to sit and rest if you want / need to rest but more importantly you can view the beautiful trees from these seats. The trail to General Grant Trail from the visitor center is marked with yellow squares making it easier to follow.
Big Stump Trail – Big stump is a turn off of the main road into the park and is right by one of the entrances off of CA180. There is a large parking area, restrooms and even some picnic tables with grills at this turnout. The trail head has a big marker just to the left of the restroom when facing it saying “Big Stump Trail.” This trail takes you through a sequoia forest that was used for logging in the 1800’s and you get to look at many stumps. Some of these stumps/trees have names including one named after the American writer Mark Twain. This particular stump was taken down to get a section of the tree for a museum in New York and London. These museums wanted to show people that these giant trees were real so down went the Mark Twain tree that was over 40 feet around. The tree took two men 13 days to bring the tree down. The section of tree that was sent to New York was sawed into four pieces allowing it to fit onto the train for its long journey. The London portion was also cut but it was but on a boat to go over to merry old England. As for the trail there are a few shoots off the trail that are loops you can explore and get back to the trail near where you departed the trail. The trail starts by going down into the valley but it is not a long hard way down so don’t be worried. You will have to cross the main drag of the park CA180 near the entrance and when this happens you will go up the hill. I ran into a deer on the trail and we enjoyed looking at each other for a few minutes before he walked off, and I went onward as well. There was a sign saying “Sawed Tree 100 yards” so why not go see it and it was up 100 yards. You got to see a sequoia that had been partially sawed but for some reason it was not finished and now you are able to see the handy work. You will then come to a tunnel under the road and go through it and you will be back at the parking area, just a bit below it. The trail goes through the forest and it is rated as 3 miles.
Hitchcock Meadow Trail – The trail head is by the road at the Big Stump Trail parking area down near the tunnel that you take on the Big Stump Trail. The trail is 0.8 miles long one way and it goes down to a meadow of harvested sequoia trees along with some sequoia trees or parts of trees on the ground. Walking down on the trail you see many harvested sequoia trees. Just remember what goes down does have to come up but the hike down/up was not that strenuous. If you are feeling your oats you can continue on the trail as I was feeling so Viola Falls is where I headed. You stay on the trail for another mile or a bit more and there is a nice little falls. It sure is not Victoria falls but it was a nice place to have a snack and rest before the hike back up to Dundee. The path is marked well is orange circular trail markers and even at times the circles were part circle and part arrow. If you pay attention to the markers you will have no problem and if you don’t pay attention you should have have trouble either but thanks for the great markings.
General Sherman Tree Trail – The trail has tons of parking above the trail but on busy days I am sure that the lot is full. The park has a shuttle service you can catch from Lodgepole Visitor Center which will take you to the upper and lower lots of the trail. The lower lot will prevent you from walking back up to the parking lot, the trail is at 7,000 feet above sea level. The path is a paved path and there are benches to stop and rest along with multiple sections of steps. Almost to the bottom there is a big resting area that doubles as a view point for the General Sherman Tree. From the General Sherman Tree Trail you can also connect to the Congress Trail which will take you through the Giant Forest Gove. The trail is 0.5 miles one way and is only a few hundred feet in elevation gain but remember you are at 7,000 feet so the air is thin. At the bottom of the trail you can see twin sequoias, a cut out of a sequoia tree about 30 feet in diameter and also the General Sherman Tree, more about the tree below. Note: If someone in your group will have trouble with the hike up please use the shuttle bus at the bottom of the hike.
Congress Trail – The Congress Trail is a loop trail that starts near the bottom of the General Sherman Trail or just past the twin trees going to the left. The trail winds through the Giant Forest Grove and is a paved path. Along the journey you will see many of these beautiful giant trees some with burn damage, some on the ground and most in their glory standing tall! The path goes up and down and there was no one section that seemed to be hard to go up and I had a nice leisurely pace going taking photos and enjoying being in the trees. The trail is 2 miles long but it connects many other trails within the Giant Forest, so bring a map of the trails with you. You can get your map at the Lodgepole Visitor Center. Along the way you will even walk trough a fallen sequoia tree but no driving though a tree as they did in the old days. You will see trees with names like The President, The Senate, The House, and McKinnley.
General Sherman Tree – The tree is the largest known tree on the planet by volume! The tree has stopped growing taller at 256 feet or almost 26 stories, the top is dead, but it still grows in girth. The tree grows in girth more than entire large tree of another species. It is worth the hike down and back to see this wonderful tree that has been on the earth for over 1,500 years.
Sunset Campground – I will start by saying that I was here Memorial Day weekend so take some of the comments with a grain of salt. The campground has running water and flush toilets and there are many restroom locations. At the restroom locations and other places around the campground there are dumpsters for your trash and also ash collection dumpsters. The campground has some 157 spots and they are close together and many don’t have much if any privacy. When I woke up after the first night it reminded me of a Boy Scout Jamboree with all of the campers close together with their tents. The campground does not have water or electricity at the sites, as most parks don’t have this luxury. There is an amphitheater within walking distance to the campground near its group sites but was under construction when I was there. I also was told by a camper it was under construction last year. The campground is an easy walk to the Grant Grove Village Visitor Center. The village has a general store, visitor center, post office, and other places to each and purchase items. Being in my van the jamboree did not bother me except when trying to use the restroom and having to wait in line. Upon arrival into the campground I found a listing of names and spots for those checking in but the list was too far away and font too small for these old eyes to see. I knew my spot number so off I went. I did walk back and check on the list and found it was in spot order and your name was the first initial of your last name and then full first name. Glad I knew my spot number as I would have never found my spot on the list from Dundee. Note: Now that the jamboree has ended I was able to see the sunset at a couple of the sites at the top of the canyon. The campground is much more peaceful as well.
