See & Go

Open: Year Around

Location: Within an hour of Visalia

Map

It is possible to see both Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park in one day with some planning.

To help you plan your visit to the parks, first stop at a visitor center to get an overview, then decide whether you will visit Mineral King, Giant Forest, Grant Grove or Cedar Grove.

By visiting Giant Forest, you can see some of the famed Big Trees, including the General Sherman Tree. The big tree, a thirty-minute walk from the parking area, is more than 2,000 years old and has the distinction of being the largest living tree in the world. The two-mile, two-hour Congress Trail starts at the Sherman Tree and loops around a grove of sequoias. Accessible parking is just off the Generals Highway. Parking permits are required to use that parking lot during the summer. Ask at the visitor centers for more information.

The 1.5-mile, one-hour Big Tree Trail features trailside exhibits and is fully accessible to those with disabilities. The trail begins at the Giant Forest Museum, an interesting and informative stop before you begin your hike that features exhibits on Sequoia ecology.

You can drive the Moro Rock - Crescent Meadow Road. You will see Moro Rock, a large granite dome; Tunnel Log, a fallen sequoia that you can drive through; and Crescent Meadow, a lovely mid-elevation meadow. Add 30 minutes to climb Moro Rock and 60 minutes to walk around the meadow. Parking is limited, so we recommend you use the free shuttle from Giant Forest Museum to visit these features during the summer months.

At Grant Grove, in Kings Canyon National Park, you'll have more than enough time to see the General Grant Tree. The General Grant Tree is the third-largest tree on earth and the Nation’s Christmas tree. It is also the only living National Shrine. From the parking area, take a gently graded, half-mile, half-hour, self-guided trail that passes by other impressive giant sequoias, the historic Gamlin Cabin, and the Fallen Monarch Tree, in which the cavalry guarding the parks in the 1890s stabled their horses.

If you decide to visit Cedar Grove in Kings Canyon, you will be treated to a blossoming place of tumbling waterfalls, meadows, and miles of quiet trails. Half the excitement is getting there on Highway 180, which zigzags down into the canyon through Sequoia National Forest. Be sure to stop at Junction View on the way. Sheer canyon walls seem to close in around you as the wild South Fork of the Kings River surges over rapids far below.