Sequoia & Kings Canyon Park

[tinklvsu]

Hi All,

We are planning to fly in Friday night (LAX) - arrive about midnight. Drive at least an hour towards the state parks, and stay overnight somewhere. Wake up (EARLY) and drive the rest of the way. Get a few hours in before dark checking out the trees, and are staying in a TENT cabin in Grant Grove. I wanted something nearest to Sequoia that I could get, but everything is booked now besides this. We are fine with no electricy for one overnight stay.. will wake up the next day and spend time to find the General Sherman tree before heading back to Anaheim. My question, is that we've had to move our trip from June to May 18th. We will be in a rental car... should I be worried about the weather in those places? I dont have a clue about what it could/would be like during that time (snow.) I've read in some places that the tent cabins arent available during that time, but I was able to book the one night, on their site. Just worried that weather could hinder the trip.... If so, I may need to skip

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

For the night that you're getting in, drive about 45 minutes or so and spend the night in Valencia, near Magic Mountain. That will get you out of the Los Angeles traffic for your early morning drive the next day. Since you're going to Grant Grove, I imagine that you won't be driving up 198, which is a very windy road (the normal way I go to Sequoia), but you'll be driving up the 180. This road is open during the winter time, and the rise is more gradual to the mountains.

Keep an eye on the forecast. We've had an extremely wet winter, and so there may be residual rain/snow even in May. A couple of years ago, my daughter and I went to Yosemite Valley (4,000 ft) for Mothers Day, and the road to Glacier Point (7,000 ft) was closed due to snow. There was no snow on the road when we drove in, but we could see it in the higher elevations. The next week, the roads were all open to Glacier Point.

I think that at the worst, The General's Hwy between Kings Canyon (where Grants Grove is) and Giant Forest (Sequoia) might be closed due to snow, but I also think that that is a long shot. If it is closed, there is a wonderful walk among the Giants in Grant's Grove.

I think that you can cancel without penalty 7 days before your reserved night. Good luck! It's beautiful there.

 

[tinklvsu]

For the night that you're getting in, drive about 45 minutes or so and spend the night in Valencia, near Magic Mountain. That will get you out of the Los Angeles traffic for your early morning drive the next day. Since you're going to Grant Grove, I imagine that you won't be driving up 198, which is a very windy road (the normal way I go to Sequoia), but you'll be driving up the 180. This road is open during the winter time, and the rise is more gradual to the mountains.

Keep an eye on the forecast. We've had an extremely wet winter, and so there may be residual rain/snow even in May. A couple of years ago, my daughter and I went to Yosemite Valley (4,000 ft) for Mothers Day, and the road to Glacier Point (7,000 ft) was closed due to snow. There was no snow on the road when we drove in, but we could see it in the higher elevations. The next week, the roads were all open to Glacier Point.

I think that at the worst, The General's Hwy between Kings Canyon (where Grants Grove is) and Giant Forest (Sequoia) might be closed due to snow, but I also think that that is a long shot. If it is closed, there is a wonderful walk among the Giants in Grant's Grove.

I think that you can cancel without penalty 7 days before your reserved night. Good luck! It's beautiful there.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to reply with so much helpful detail! I will make sure to keep an eye out on the weather starting a few weeks out to plan accordingly! <3

 

[Lumpy1106]

We've done the family camp @ Montecito Sequoia the last 3 summers. I highly recommend it. They have rustic cabins hotel rooms and very nice cabins with lofts. Not sure how long the snow will last but they are fairly close to the Grants Grove and you can only get there with an escort right now. They are having a banner snow year.
https://www.mslodge.com/?gclid=CjwK...FNQR3jegyjh3m-PIFQjllPCkTqUKJgpRoC9RwQAvD_BwE

 

[Dr.Mickey]

Hi guys. I was going to start my own post, but I’ll join this one if you don’t mind. We have our first ever California trip this June (I have been to Anaheim once for a meeting plus DLR, but never a family trip).

We are planning 2-3 days at DLR, then 1 day at Sequoia (southern entrance), and 3 days at Yosemite. I am thrilled.

Since this is a Sequoia thread, what are your tips? We are walkers (2-4 miles is ok), but not long distance hikers (scratch the 10 mile trails). I am of course looking at the loop around General Sherman and maybe the 450 stairs up to Moro Rock. Will that take most of a day? What else to try?

Thanks!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Hi guys. I was going to start my own post, but I’ll join this one if you don’t mind. We have our first ever California trip this June (I have been to Anaheim once for a meeting plus DLR, but never a family trip).

We are planning 2-3 days at DLR, then 1 day at Sequoia (southern entrance), and 3 days at Yosemite. I am thrilled.

Since this is a Sequoia thread, what are your tips? We are walkers (2-4 miles is ok), but not long distance hikers (scratch the 10 mile trails). I am of course looking at the loop around General Sherman and maybe the 450 stairs up to Moro Rock. Will that take most of a day? What else to try?

Thanks!

I recommend doing the hike/walk around Crescent Meadow, and then from there hiking (very moderate) to the General Sherman tree. You can do that after Moro Rock (I recommend that one earlier in the day.) You can park at the museum then take the shuttle to Moro Rock, then Crescent Meadow. We typically see bears around Crescent Meadow, and as long as you leave them alone they'll leave you alone. They don't want to be around people, especially when they have cubs. We saw more bears than deer when we went (July), and it was really cool.

Note that it's a 3-hour drive from Sequoia to Yosemite (I do this drive often). From LA you can take the 198 east (at Visalia) and it will go all the way up to Sequoia. There's a visitor center in the lower elevation right when you get into the park, and then again at the museum in Giant Forest. Leaving Sequoia, you'll continue on the General's Hwy towards King's Canyon (be sure to stop at the overlook) and will get to the 180 turn-off just before Grants Grove, which you'll take to Fresno, picking up the 41 to go in to Yosemite. Oakhurst is 19 miles before you get to the south entrance, and there is a great Vons there where you can get bottled water and any other food you'll want before you get to the most beautiful place on Earth.

 

[Dr.Mickey]

Thanks for the review!

 

[Lumpy1106]

Hi guys. I was going to start my own post, but I’ll join this one if you don’t mind. We have our first ever California trip this June (I have been to Anaheim once for a meeting plus DLR, but never a family trip).

We are planning 2-3 days at DLR, then 1 day at Sequoia (southern entrance), and 3 days at Yosemite. I am thrilled.

Since this is a Sequoia thread, what are your tips? We are walkers (2-4 miles is ok), but not long distance hikers (scratch the 10 mile trails). I am of course looking at the loop around General Sherman and maybe the 450 stairs up to Moro Rock. Will that take most of a day? What else to try?

Thanks!

Sequoia is the far-less-crowded, more spread out alternative to Yosemite. I think you'll find 1 day is nowhere near enough. Here are my favorites that you can do in one day if that's the plan though;
Big Baldy;
http://www.americansouthwest.net/california/kings_canyon/big-baldy-trail.html
Arguably the best view in the park, and an easy hike. I have done two other hikes that will beat the view here (Moro Rock is one of them) but those are both strenuous, nearly all-day experiences. You can be out and back on this hike in a couple of hours.

Muir Woods;
http://www.redwoodhikes.com/SequoiaNP/Muir.html
Don't just stop at General Sherman - this is an easy out-and-back hike to a really pretty stand of giant redwoods, and you'll nearly have it to yourself when you get there - give yourself 2-3 hours min.

You can also head down to Lake Hume if you feel like getting back to civilization. There's a renowned burger place there that makes great shakes. It's about an hour drive from the park entrance (remember - hour there, hour back). You could do all 3 of these things, plus stop and do the General Sherman loop (< 1 hour) in one day.

That's a good sampling of what the park has to offer, but really just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[elaine amj]

I always get a smile when hearing chatter about Sequoia /Kings Canyon. LOVED our trip there!

We stayed outside the park and then drove into Sequoia to hike in the main grove where all the big trees are. We continued hiking on past the crowds and even my DH and DS who only enjoy short hikes had a blast walking through all those giant trees. Had dinner at the BBQ place in the park and then stayed one night at a tent cabin in Kings Canyon and it was very nice. More luxe than I expected (I am a tent camper). Next night we moved on to a nice motel room at the Christian camp on Hume Lake. My kids had a blast with the (pretty cheap) activities there.

Have an amazing time. I need to go back one day. When WDW stops calling my name lol.