The Rae Lakes Loop is one of the most popular hikes in the co-managed Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Parks in California. The trail is 41.4 miles long and climbs more than 6,000 feet. Along the way, you travel through just about every Alpine climate zone and see canyons, high alpine lakes and breathtaking vistas. Photo by Vivek Vijaykumar. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 6/10/17.
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If you have not walked among the giant sequoias, then you have not experienced one of the unique and wonderful experiences in California. Three quick facts:
Sequoiadendron giganteum trees have been found to be 3,500 years old by counting their rings.
Giant sequoia trees in the Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Parks. Photo by Tiffany Nguyen. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 10/19/15.
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Last light over Evolution Lake. Kings Canyon National Park. Photo by Greg Owens. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 3/20/15.
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Kings Canyon is certainly the National Park my family has camped in the most, and I highly recommend the experience! Today is its 75th Anniversary as a National Park … which is being celebrated with free admission. If only I wasn’t 5 hours away!
Nicknamed a Land of Giants, Kings Canyon National Park’s landscape testifies to nature’s size, beauty and diversity — huge mountains, rugged foothills, deep canyons, vast caverns and the world’s largest trees. Kings Canyon was created 75 years ago today, encompassing 454,000 acres of pristine Sierra Nevada wilderness in California. Nearly half the park is above timberline and two dozen peaks extend above 13,000 feet. The Pacific Crest and John Muir trails pass through cathedrals of glaciated valleys and domes, including Evolution Valley and Sixty Lakes Basin. Pictured here is the park’s stunning Bullfrog Lake by David Palefsky. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 3/4/15.
Kings Canyon is most famous, of course, for the Giant Sequoias that soar over the Park. Photo by Ed Cooper. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 2/20/15.
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Kings Canyon National Park in California testifies to nature’s size, beauty and diversity with huge mountains, rugged foothills, deep canyons, vast caverns and the world’s largest trees. The park lies side-by-side to Sequoia National Park in California’s southern Sierra Nevada mountains.
Pictured here is Bullfrog Lake by David Palefsky. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior on 11/14/14.
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Where Is It: 225 miles north of Los Angeles; 250 miles southeast of San Francisco.
The Birth: From shannontech.com:
The famous naturalist John Muir first visited the area in 1873 and 1875 and quickly came to love it, but he became very concerned for its condition. Sharing his concerns, some began to consider the idea of preserving the natural wonders in the area. Considerable credit for the efforts which culminated in the establishment of the original park go to George W. Stewart, a Visalia newspaperman and conservationist, and Daniel K. Zumwalt of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The area surrounding the Grant Grove of giant sequoias was withdrawn from sale for logging in 1880. This same area around the sequoias was created as the fourth national park on the same day as Yosemite (October 1, 1890), in the same legislation and one week later than the second park. It was called General Grant National Park.
Threats to the resources in the park area persisted into the twentieth century. In the 1920’s a plan was created to create a reservoir in the Cedar Grove area. However, these were resisted and in 1940, Kings Canyon National Park was created, encompassing the original General Grant Park and a great deal of additional land north of Sequoia National Park. In 1943, as a wartime economy measure, the park began to be administered by the same superintendant as Sequoia, an arrangement which persists to this day. The park reached its present size in 1965 when the Cedar Grove area and the Tehipite Valley were included within its borders.
Size: 461,901 acres
# Visitors: 567,544 visitors in 2013. Attendance peaks in July and is least in December.
Choices: There are 2 entrances to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks:
Big Stump entrance, accessible on California 180 from Fresno. I prefer this entrance; from Los Angeles I exit at the 198, but then go through Dinuba to get to the 180 and go up the mountain.
Ash Mountain entrance, Accessible on California 198 from Visalia. This entrance enters the Park at a lower elevation, and has a very twisty turny road to get to SNP.
Fees: $20 for each car entering the Sequoia/Kings Canyon area.
Staying There: There are multiple hotels between the entrances of the Parks, which are largely on non-park owned property. They are easily accessible, here. Campsites are available in multiple locations; fees are currently $18 daily for single campsites and $35 daily for group sites. Running water is available near most sites; flush toilets are available as well.
Crystal Springs is my favorite campsite. Some of the sites are really close together … but get there early, pick your spot, and you’ll have a wonderful experience.
Contact Info:
By Mail:
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
47050 Generals Highway
Three Rivers, CA 93271-9700
By Phone:
559-565-3341
For 24-hour recorded information.
Speak with park staff from 8:15 a.m.-4:15 p.m., weekdays only.
Current Issues: From NationalParksTraveler.com:
It took the help of a helicopter, but Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep are once again roaming the Great Western Divide that forms part of the border between Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.
It’s been a century at least since bighorns called the Divide home, according to a park release. Some were returned there in late March as 10 ewes and four rams were translocated from land in the Inyo National Forest to … more.
Don’t Miss This: Some of the biggest attractions in the Kings Canyon National Park:
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National Park Service: Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
California Black Oak: Quercus kelloggii
