Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks abound with trees and canyons. The General Grant Grove of sequoia trees is impressive, to say the least. When you pull into the parking lot for the grove you see this group of three marvelous Sequoia trees. I think of the Lord of the Rings book “The Two Towers”, but in this case, it is three towers and then another two towers.
The General Grant Tree is just around the corner down a .3 mile paved trail. It is easily accessible to almost anyone. The tree is hard to photograph due to its height and girth. The General Grant Tree is the largest giant sequoia tree in the General Grant Grove section and the second largest tree in the world. It is estimated that the General Grant Tree is around 1,650 years old. The tree also features the third largest footprint of any living giant sequoia, measuring 107.6 ft in circumference at ground level. A wide-angle lens or go-pro with its super-wide field of view is recommendable to get good shots. Photos do not do these trees justice, you really have to see them in person, to truly appreciate them.
The Fallen Monarch, a.k.a. Dead Monarch is a giant Redwood log that was hallowed out by fire before it fell. Interestingly enough brothers and cattlemen Israel and Thomas Gamlin used it as a temporary shelter as they built Gamlin Pioneer Cabin nearby. Tourists now walk through the log as part of the paved loop trail.
Then after visiting the General Grant Grove, we drove down the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway to our campsite at Sheep Creek Campground. The sun was starting to set and we got spectacular views of the mountains in the distance.
You start at a higher elevation and work your way down twisties to the bottom of Kings Canyon at Cedar Grove Visitor Center and Village. It can be a little scary going around some of the corners with no guard rails and a sheer cliff dropping thousands of feet on the other side. It somewhat reminds me of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park.
We had a nice campsite at Sheep Creek with a small creek behind our site. We did have black bear activity each night. The first night a neighboring campsite encountered a bear and scared it away across the small creek. The second night a garbage dumpster across from our site was to the point of overfilling and the locking system allowed a gap between the lid and the dumpster. You could hear the bear in the middle of the night working that gap. It was able to pull garbage through it and we found a mess outside of the dumpster in the morning.
Check out the national park service webpage Black Bears – Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) on what to do if you encounter a bear.
Things to see and do along the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway
Roaring River Falls – It is just a short walk to see a beautiful waterfall. This is a popular place in the Cedar Grove area so expect a lot of people here. There were a couple of spots where people were in the water, but be aware this was in drought conditions and the water was fairly calm. There are many warning signs along the trail that warn of the dangers of drowning. I would expect the dangers to be greater when there is high water.
Zumwalt Meadow – Trailhead parking is 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east of Cedar Grove Village. There is a .8 mile (1.3 km) trail (no longer a loop trail because of a 2019 flood washing out parts of the trail by the river). This was a little confusing as from the trailhead sign it appeared to be a loop. We did not see another bridge to cross the river, just the initial expansion bridge. Follow the trail through a wooded area and talus slopes until the trail opens up to views of the meadow.
Knapp’s Cabin – A historic cabin in which during the Roaring 20s, a Santa Barbara California businessman commissioned lavish fishing expeditions here, storing gear in this small cabin. The cabin is a short walk from a turnout 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Cedar Grove Village road.
Boyden Cavern – Is located in the Sequoia National Forest along the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway. Boyden Cavern features stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, pendants, and shields! The short but steep hike to the cave features spectacular views of the steepest part of Kings Canyon.
Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is located in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, to protect 404,064 acres of forested and mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 m), the park contains the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney with an elevation of 14,505 ft (4,421 meters). The park is most well known for the giant sequoia trees. The largest of these trees is The General Sherman Tree which is the largest living tree in the world by volume. It stands 275 feet (83 m) tall and is over 36 feet (11 m) in diameter at the base.
Driving along the General Highway south of the General Sherman Tree is very impressive with a large number of Sequoia Trees in the vicinity of the Big Tress Trail and the Giant Forest Grove.
Continuing south on the Generals Highway the landscape changes dramatically. The temperature gets warmer as you quickly lose elevation on the narrow, winding, and steep road. There are fewer and fewer trees and the landscape becomes more desert-like.
Other points of interest along the southern section of the Generals Highway.
Hospital Rock – Is a large quartzite rock with pictographs from the Native American Potwisha tribe. There were as many as 500 Native Americans living at this spot as early as 1350 AD. The site is right across the street from the parking/picnic area, so is an easy attraction to see in just a few minutes.
The site includes interesting man-made potholes at ground level. This is the kitchen area and consists of 50 bedrock mortars which were used to grind food.
Tunnel Rock – Is a giant, flat granite boulder that caps a tunnel dug by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in 1938 for the original roadway. The road was closed to vehicle traffic in the mid-1990s as trucks and SUVs have gotten too big in modern times to pass through it. Today the main road bypasses the tunnel and it’s now a stop for tourists. The boulder is viewable from the new road that goes alongside of it.
Final night shot from Sheep Creek Campground.
