ginnyp

we are thinking of staying inside the park and we prefer renting a cabin or condo. i searched the web but couldn't get much result (most rentals are outside the park). Have any of you done the same? where did you stay?

ellen_griswold

Definitely stay in the park if you can! Our two nights there were among the best we've spent in a national park, and we've spent many.

We were in the sequoia building of Wuksachi (sp?) Lodge and it was delightful. Not only did it seem new(er), they had golf carts and drivers that took us to our room! After lots of hiking that day, it was a welcome treat. Also, while the exterior of the lodge resembled many / most nat'l park lodges, the interior was updated and especially bright

Dinner at the lodge was good, but similar to most nat'l park lodges. After dinner both nights we drove through the auto-log and then to the top of crescent meadow looking for bears, where they're reportedly often spotted. Didn't see any but the sky / stars were amazing, the night was extremely peaceful and serene. Driving back to the lodge was totally, and i mean totally dark. Very cool and our kids still talk about it.

Hope this helps and hope you have a great time.

mpf

We were at Sequoia NP last week, and our tour guide mentioned that the only lodging in Sequoia is Wuksachi Lodge or camping. One extreme to the other. The Lodge rates are about $175. Perhaps you can check out the lodging in Kings Canyon.

maj

Wuksachi Lodge is probably the only lodge within the boundaries of Sequoia, but only a few miles away (on the way to Kings Canyon) is Montecito which I haven't stayed at, but Kimamom has raved about it, if you want to read her posts on the subject.
http://www.montecitosequoia.com/


The other places to stay in the park areas are under:
http://www.sequoia-kingscanyon.com/lodging.html

Stoney Creek is between Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Cedar Grove is right in Kings Canyon and has a lodge (I'm not sure about cabins) but only has a lunch bar and is not really convenient to Sequoia. Grant's Grove (where we stayed is about an hour drive from Kings Canyon and about an hour from the main area in Sequoia. (but the scenery is beautiful and the drive didn't seem that long). The John Muir lodge is new. Other than that the bath cabins which we stayed in for a couple of nights were pretty basic (too much like camping for me--we moved to the lodge). They do have a restaurant there, visitor center, grocery store and Grant's Grove (really nice sequoia grove).

Even though the accomodations and restaurants are pretty basic, I agree with staying in the park. I think the only place with tv's is the Stoney Creek and we didn't get cell phone service at all. And we actually survived--I wasn't sure my husband would make it without a tv -- they did have radios in the room.

sequoia370

You definitely should stay within the park, or at Montecito or Stoney Creek, between Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Most of the other places close by are really thousands of feet below the parks, Three Rivers for example, is right at the edge of the park, but 5000 feet below the Giant Forest/Moro Rock area and is quite a twisty 20 mile drive up and down. And it's a completely different environment, dry, hot, brown hills in summer (very green and flowery in spring, but that's long past now). The roads through the parks are in the forest zone, with tall trees of all species, so you don't normally get views of mountain peaks. Wuksachi is probably your best bet for such views but even there, it's still within the forest zone