Sequoia and Kings Canyon Trip Report

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are some of the best places in the United States to see giant sequoias, deep canyons, and the world’s largest trees, including the iconic General Sherman Tree and General Grant Tree. Located in central California near Yosemite National Park, these parks are connected by the scenic Generals Highway and are open year-round for a wide range of recreational opportunities, from easy hikes in the park’s Giant Forest to adventurous day hikes in the Cedar Grove areas.

In these two national parks, you’ll find breathtaking sequoia groves, scenic drives, and incredible areas of the park like Moro Rock, Crescent Meadow Loop, and the Big Trees Trail that make Sequoia and Kings Canyon a great place for your next national parks trip!

Listen to the Full Podcast Episode:

Podcast Episode Overview

In this episode of Exploring the National Parks, we’re taking you on a trip report of our summer research journey to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks!

Join us as we share our honest and hilarious lessons learned, from the shockingly subpar lodging to some serious, heart-stopping experiences with rivers, falling trees, and even a rogue bear. Get ready for a dose of reality and a whole lot of fun as we help you navigate Sequoia Kings!

Join us as we discuss…

• Why the lodges in Sequoia Kings are all about location, location, location, and not much else
• The heartbreaking reality of the 2021 fire and the lessons we learned about the importance of natural fire cycles
• The terrifying moment that reminded us why you need to be extra careful around water
• The way that we learned how “widow maker” trees got their name
• Why we were completely unprepared for our hilariously disastrous boat ride on Hume Lake
• The insane, reality TV-worthy spectacle we witnessed right in front of us

If you’re planning your first or your next trip to Sequoia Kings, we hope these lessons will help you have a smooth and unforgettable trip! 

If you have any of your own stories to share about Sequoia Kings, be sure to head over to the Dirt in My Shoes Facebook or Instagram pages and let us know!

Our trip to Sequoia and Kings Canyon

If you’ve been wondering what we’ve been up to this summer, here’s a peek behind the scenes! We took our kids to Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park for a full week of research so I can build a brand-new itinerary for these parks. These parks are commonly called Sequoia Kings because the National Park Service manages them together, and most trip plans treat them as one epic destination. They’re also close enough to Yosemite National Park that many people like to combine the parks into a single road trip through central California.

Summer months are when most national parks are fully open and when many of you head out on your adventures. It’s also the best time for us to do a lot of our verification work. Over the past few years, it’s been tough to get back into Sequoia Kings to check on areas of the park. Between COVID closures and a major wildfire, it just wasn’t possible to see what needed to be seen. Now the Sequoia shuttle is running again, campgrounds like Lodgepole Campground are reopening, and conditions have stabilized enough for us to gather the detailed information you need!

I’m excited to share that a Sequoia Kings itinerary is officially in the works. If you already love my Yosemite itinerary, this new plan will make it easy to add Sequoia Kings to the same trip. We’ve been listening to your requests and we’re getting it ready.

We came away with six big lessons from this trip. Some are practical, some are emotional, and some are a little wild, but all of them will help you plan a safer, smoother, and more awe-filled visit to Sequoia Kings!

Lesson 1: You’re paying for location with the lodges

We usually camp at Sequoia Kings, but this time we tested the lodges so I could see what to recommend for an itinerary. We split our stay between the Wuksachi Lodge up high in Sequoia and the Cedar Grove Lodge deep in Kings Canyon.

The verdict: the locations are excellent, the rooms are basic, and the prices can be steep. Our room at the Wuksachi Lodge was clean and put us in a perfect position for Sequoia and the upper part of Kings Canyon, but it felt like a standard motel at a premium rate. Cedar Grove Lodge sits right on the river at the canyon bottom. The setting is gorgeous, the access to trailheads is fantastic for day hikes, and we loved reading in the loungers while the water rushed by. The room itself was tiny and tired. You’re very much paying for proximity in both places.

If you stay at Cedar Grove, you’ll enjoy quiet mornings and evenings when most people are day-tripping in and out. We had trailheads to ourselves before 10 a.m. and sunsets that felt private. Just keep in mind that being down-canyon is not convenient for reaching other areas of the park.

Lesson 2: The 2021 fire changed everything

We followed the 2021 fire as it happened, but seeing the aftermath in person took our breath away. Large areas remain unburned and beautiful, and you can absolutely have a great time. Still, the footprint of the fire is huge, and the loss in some sequoia groves is heartbreaking.

We stood on Sunset Rock and looked out over a landscape where the burn scar swept across ridges and through giant sequoias. Our favorite sequoia spot from past trips, the Redwood Mountain Grove, was leveled. The estimates are that it lost a massive number of mature giant sequoia trees. Walking through that area felt like stepping into a story you wish had ended differently.

Sequoias need fire to open their cones and make room for their seedlings to grow. What they don’t need is a supercharged blaze fueled by decades of built-up debris. That’s what made this fire so hot and damaging. As we drove out, we saw crews working on prescribed burns, which was a relief. Returning the forest to a healthier fire cycle protects the world’s largest trees we all love. If you’re visiting, be extremely careful with campfires and follow every rule to the letter. It matters here.

Lesson 3: Rivers demand extra caution

Most national park fatalities happen in or near water, and Sequoia Kings has powerful, fast-moving rivers. We know this and we’re cautious, but we still had a close call on the Tokopah Falls Trail.

It was a hot day, and we stopped at the river to cool off our feet in a still, shallow inlet. Our son walked along a flat slab of granite near the water’s edge and stepped on what looked like bare rock. It was covered in nearly invisible, glassy moss. In an instant, he was sliding on hands and knees toward the river. He didn’t go in, but it shook us to the core! A few minutes later, we watched other people slip in the same spot.

If you’re bringing kids, keep them close and treat any rock near water as suspect. Even when an area looks calm and safe, hidden hazards can turn it dangerous fast. This was a reminder that the best way to enjoy rivers is with caution and constant awareness.

Lesson 4: Widow makers are real

After a big fire, standing dead trees become part of the landscape. On the Little Baldy Trail, we found out why they’re called widow makers. We’d stopped for a minute to point out a little pine we remembered from years ago. As we started hiking again, a massive dead tree collapsed on itself fifty yards ahead, cracking like thunder and shaking the ground. When the dust settled, it was hard to tell which trunk had fallen because there were already so many downed trees around it.

For the rest of the hike, I found myself scanning every trunk, wondering which one was hollow. The National Park Service is clearly working to remove hazards, but it’s an almost impossible task across hundreds of thousands of acres. Stay alert on windy days, don’t linger under dead snags, and keep your breaks in open areas where you can assess what’s above you.

Lesson 5: Check your rental gear before you leave shore

We took a detour to Hume Lake, which sits just outside the national park boundaries but feels connected to the Sierra Nevadas. It’s a charming little reservoir with day-use areas and a camp. We rented a small rowboat with a tiny electric motor for a loop around the lake. It seemed simple enough.

With the wind at our backs, we puttered along without much speed. Near the dam, we turned into the breeze, and the motor wasn’t strong enough to push us forward. We began drifting backward toward the safety line. We had no oars. The panic crept in fast!

John climbed to the bow, lay on his stomach, and started paddling with his arms. He muscled us away from the dam, rested, and then did it again, all the way back to shore. Meanwhile, paddle boarders zipped by like it was a pleasant breeze. Lesson learned! If you’re renting a boat, verify the motor can handle a headwind, and don’t leave without proper paddles.

Lesson 6: Bear management is serious business

Our last night down in Cedar Grove turned into a front row seat to the National Park Service’s bear management program. The evening before, we’d watched a mama bear with three cubs doing adorable black bear things. The next night, the staff told us a bear had broken into the ice cream cooler behind the lodge. Curious, we stepped out onto the balcony above the parking lot.

Suddenly, we heard loud shouts. A big black bear tore across the lot with park rangers in pursuit, yelling and firing noise rounds while hustling the bear toward the campground boundary. It felt like a scene from a show we didn’t know we’d signed up to watch. After we tucked the kids into bed, I told John, “This bear is coming back!” It just had that look.

Minutes later, the rangers screeched back in, jumped out, and the chase was on again. They even had a bear trap on the back of the vehicle. It was a vivid reminder of how quickly a food-conditioned bear becomes a problem, first for safety, then for the bear. No one wants it to end with a trap, so the goal is to make human spaces feel unpleasant and unrewarding to bears.

In Sequoia and Yosemite, bear spray isn’t allowed. The system relies on strict food storage, vigilant rangers, and visitors who follow the rules. We couldn’t even leave food in our car. Everything had to come into the room. If a ranger tells you to put your cooler away or take the tablecloth off your picnic table, they’re not being picky. They’re protecting bears and people alike. Watching those rangers work made me proud and grateful.

Planning your trip to Sequoia and Kings Canyon

If you’re planning Sequoia Kings, here’s what I’ll be building into the itinerary and what you can start thinking about now:

• Stay along the Generals Highway corridor between the Giant Forest and Grant Grove Village if your time is short. The convenience is worth it.
• Expect basic rooms in prime locations if you choose to lodge inside the parks. If you want comfort over convenience, consider camping or staying outside the park with extra time for the drives.
• Build in time to reflect on the 2021 fire’s impact. You’ll still see beautiful, thriving sequoia groves, but the burn areas tell an important story.
• Treat every river approach with caution. Wet granite and nearly invisible moss can be treacherous, even far from obvious currents.
• On forested trails, be mindful of standing dead trees, especially on breezy days.
• Store food properly and follow ranger guidance. It protects your family and the bears.

I can’t wait to share the new Sequoia Kings itinerary with you! In the meantime, keep exploring, keep learning, and keep getting dirt in your shoes.

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Links mentioned in this podcast episode:

• Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park
• Yosemite National Park
• Generals Highway Road Conditions
• Giant Forest area
• Grant Grove
• Wuksachi Lodge
• Cedar Grove Lodge
• Cedar Grove area
• Sunset Rock
• Redwood Mountain Grove
• Tokopah Falls Trail
• Little Baldy Trail
• 2021 KNP Complex Fire
• Fire in the national parks and prescribed burns
• Bears and food storage
• Black bears in Sequoia and Kings Canyon

Are you hoping to visit all of the national parks? Sign up for your FREE NATIONAL PARKS CHECKLIST so you can easily see where you’ve been and where you still need to go!