We visited the beautiful Sequoia and Kings Canyon National parks during the summer months - August along with parents. It was a road trip from San Diego and we spent a day inside the park.
The weather was just perfect and enjoyable.
Day 1:
Drive from San Diego to Visalia. Stayed for the night at Visalia.
Day 2:
Entered the park through the Kings Canyon - Big Stump entrance and the first stop was the visitor center to gather more details of the park. The trees were majestic and magical and we were all aw struck!
The first stop was the General Grant Tree, which is the second largest tree in the world 267 feet tall and 29 feet wide at the base. It is a paved trail - around 0.5 miles long.
The next stop was the Zumwalt meadows which is a beautiful place and worth the drive. The trail in the Zumwalt meadows is a 1.5 mile loop along the Kings river. There were picnic tables and we had our lunch here by the river. Zumwalt meadows is the last point on this road.
On the way back we stopped at the Roaring River falls, which is a short trail and then the Grizzly Falls which is 0.1 mile trail to view the 80 feet falls. We were able to wet our legs and spend some time in the water close to the falls.
We stopped at few viewpoints on the way back before our next stop at the Hume Lake. There is a restaurant and fuel stop available at this spot and can spend an hour here by the lake.
After this we headed straight to the Wuksachi Lodge which was our accommodation for the night. It is a beautiful lodge and there were deer right outside our room. We were luck to get a room in this lodge in-spite the last minute booking. Recommend making plans well in advance for a stay inside the park. There is also a restaurant attached to this lodge but we did not try that out.
Day 3:
This day was to be spent in the Sequoia National Park. There are free shuttle services offered by the park and is recommended to be used considering the limited parking spaces available.
First we drove through the Tunnel Log. Since we were there early, we were the only ones there and were able to take lots of pics and drove the car through the tunnel log.
Next we drove to the Moro Rock for the first stop. This is one of the most popular trails which goes top of a granite dome and is 0.4 mile with considerable elevation of 300 steps. This trail offers spectacular views of the Sequoia National park and the Great Western divide. Again since we were early, we were able to find parking here.
Next we drove to the Giant Forest Museum and parked our car. The parking space is limited. From here we took the park shuttle to commute to the other places around the park.
We took the shuttle to the General Sherman Tree. This is the worlds largest living tree measuring 31 meters around and 84 meters tall and is said to be still growing. We can spend a good 1 hour here walking along the trail admiring the beauty of the Sequoias.
Next we tool the shuttle to the Crescent Meadows. It is said that this is a good place for sighting bears, though that day we did not spot any. The trail is a 1.6 mile loop and can view the Tharps Log and Chimney tree. We were too tired to do the full trail and hence did a part of it and turned back.
We came back to the Giant Forest Museum and spent time educating ourselves about the trees and how the forest was formed.
Next we took the Big Trees Trail from the Giant Forest Museum. It is a beautiful trail and very simple to walk. Should not be missed. We get to see the different stages of the Sequoia trees starting from the babies to the grown ones.
We exited the park through the Generals Highway, Ash mountain entrance. We stayed the night in Visalia before heading back home.
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