My husband and I just returned from a terrific trip to Sequoia National Park. We went up on Wednesday and came home on Sunday, camped at the Lodgepole campground.

Wednesday: We left San Jose at 8:30 on Wednesday morning and made it to the Grant Village in Kings Canyon National Park by 12:30 with minimal stops along the way. We took 101 South, 152 East, 99 South, 180 East. It was shaping up to be a hot day in the central valley, so we wanted to get through there as quickly as possible.

At Grant Village we had lunch at the restaurant. The lunch menu consists of a few sandwiches, burgers, and salads, plus fries and a few other side dishes. The food was pretty decent, but the service was slow as molasses. It wasn’t even very busy, but it took forever for someone to come take our order and then a long time for the food to come out.

After lunch we went over to the Grant Grove and stumbled onto a ranger-led tour to the Grant Tree. The tour was great and we learned quite a bit about the giant sequoias.

Then we headed onto the campground, which was about a 45 minute drive from Grant Village. The road is really pretty with some nice views. Lodgepole campground is pretty nice. Fairly large with almost 200 campsites, I believe. It is set up in such a way that it feels like several smaller campgrounds. Our site was across the bridge by the river, which was terrific. We could hear the water rushing and the temperature was a few degrees cooler than away from the river. We set up camp, walked around a bit by the river, had some dinner, and then sat out by the campfire.

Thursday: We got up, had some breakfast and then went down to the Lodgepole market center to take our showers. The shower facilities are nice. I think they have recently been remodeled. The cost is $2 for 8 minutes and then 25 cents for each minute after.

After showers we wandered around the visitor’s center and market. The visitors center has some good displays and the Market is pretty comprehensive – good variety of food, beer, wine, and toiletries. Also ice and wood and of course - souveniers. We bought tickets to the Crystal Cave at the visitor’s center for that afternoon.

After lunch we headed out to Crystal Cave, which off the General’s Highway (main park highway), and up a narrow road. Gorgeous drive. The entrance to the cave is a ½ mile walk down a steep trail from the parking area. The trail passes a really nice waterfall and has some good views along the way. The cave itself is spectacular. The tour lasted about 45 minutes and was a ½ mile or so long. Very chilly in the cave, especially compared with the hot temperatures outside. The walk back up to the parking lot was steep and hot, but we made it. The caves were definitely worth the exertion.

On the way back to camp, we stopped at the Giant Forest Museum, which is very good – lots of visual aids to help understand the trees and the forest. We also stopped at the General Sherman tree, which is reported to be the largest living thing on earth. It is indeed huge.

Once back at camp, we took our camp chairs down to the river for some relaxation. The river was moving pretty well, so we found a calm spot, put our chairs in the river and sat down to read for awhile. Later we had dinner and sat out by the campfire.

Friday: After breakfast and showers, we hiked up to Tokopah Fall. The trail head is right outside the campground and the trail follows the river up the canyon. The trail is about 1 ¾ mile each way and goes through some really beautiful forest, past small waterfalls and a couple great meadows. It is steep and rocky in places, but for the most part, the trail is pretty even. The last bit goes over a rock fall, which makes for a bit of a challenge. The falls are magnificent though. There is an outlook about ¼ to ½ way up the falls. Some people had climbed down to the water – the rocks were steep and the water was pretty fast though, so we didn’t attempt it.

After the hike, we had some lunch and then relaxed in the river some more. The weather was pretty warm, so the hike sapped our energy. The elevation was a bit of a factor too, I believe, since we live almost at sea level and the campground is at about 6700 ft.

Saturday: The campground was pretty crowded by Saturday, and so were the showers. I definitely recommend showering early on days that the campground is full to beat the rush.

In the morning we explored the campground and the river a bit more, had lunch and then went off to see more of the Giant Forest. We drove up to Crescent Meadow, and on the way saw the Auto Log, which is a big fallen tree that people used to drive their cars on top of and take pictures, and the tunnel log, which is another fallen tree with a tunnel cut out that you can drive through. Crescent Meadow was really wonderful. We took the loop trail around the meadow, which is about 1 ½ miles or so – fairly flat. It was pretty buggy because the weather was so hot and there was all that standing water, but with some reapplication of the bug repellent we did ok. There were quite a few mature giant sequoias and tons of ferns and wild flowers.

On the way back to camp we stopped at another meadow, right off the highway that has a ½ to ¾ mile loop interpretative trail – called Giant Forest Loop Trail or something like that. Incredibly beautiful.

Back at camp, we relaxed in the river for awhile, had dinner and then sat around the campfire for awhile before bed.

Sunday: After breakfast we broke camp, packed up and headed out. We stopped at the Grant Village and hit the gift shop to buy a few souvenirs. We left Grant Village at 11 and got back to San Jose about 3:30, including a stop for lunch and another stop at Casa de Fruta.

We didn’t make it over to Kings Canyon this trip, although we had planned to. We skipped it in favor of more relaxation by the river, which I think was a good choice this trip. It was fairly warm and I needed that relaxation. Since it is only 4 or so hours from home, we can definitely go back again to see it.

Thanks for the report. We had a home outside the parks for many years, so your report brings back pleasant memories. Loved Crystal Caves, they're great fun to explore.

Our daughter is at Hume Lake right now for the week, being a counselor at camp. It's a gorgeous area and much less populated than Yosemite. www.humelake.org Glad you enjoyed your trip! ***kim***

Great trip report -- thanks for writing it. Lucky you -- 4 hours away. You could easily camp in Kings Canyon for a couple of days next time and have a relaxing time there too.

We ate at Grant Village almost the whole time we were there (breakfast and dinner) and sometimes the service was good and sometimes (for no reason we could see) very slow. We attributed it to the restaurant just opening for the season, new employees, etc., but maybe that is just their pace. They definitely have a captive audience as far as very few choices in places to eat. Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip.

We definitely want to explore this area more. We have gone up to Yosemite 3 times with a group that goes every year. This year we couldn't go because of my finals schedule, so we chose Sequoia instead - we had to wait until after May for the trip and I don't think anybody in their right mind goes to Yosemite in the summer, at least not to the valley Sequoia was definitely less crowded - by a long shot. Even on Saturday wandering around we found ourselves alone much of the time.

The hike to Tokopah Falls was a bit crowded, but nothing like the hike to Vernal Falls in Yosemite. And at Crescent Meadow, there were only a few other people on the trail. Even driving through the Tunnel Log, we only had to wait for a couple cars to pass through ahead of us.

We are thinking of planning another trip next June - just a short 3 nighter - to get some relaxation time after my semester ends.

Your report brought back a lot of memories for me. My first visit to Sequoia was as a teenager in the early 50s. A lot has changed since then, but it is still a great place. We used to stay in housekeeping cabins near Giant Forest, but now they have been removed to protect the area. There used to be some great ranger programs. Did you go to any? The two things you didn't mention doing that I remember fondly were the hike up Moro Rock and the trail from the Sherman Tree called the Congress Trail or something like that. It passes all kinds of great trees. The meals at Giant Forest Lodge are very good, by the way. Thanks for the report.

When we were at the Giant Forest museum, we learned about the housekeeping cabins and other things that used to be in the area and how they had to take them out to protect the trees - they just didn't realize the damage that was being done at first. Really interesting stuff.

We had Moro Rock and the Congress Trail on our list of possible things to do, but we didn't get to them. It was uncharacteristically hot, so we took it easy. We didn't want to lose sight of the point of this vacation - to take a time out and relax

We went on one ranger-led walk at Grant Grove and then the ranger-led tour at Crystal Cave - they were great and we thought about checking out some more, but we didn't get to it. Scheduled events and camping don't really work well for me - LOL.

Excellent report, J! Love it!

Topping for Zunseenboy.

Topping for MMMG - hopefully this will help in your trip planning

J_Correna,

I'm taking notes for our upcoming trip to Sequioa - Kings Canyon! Thanks for the great trip report!

Utahtea

Glad it could be of help We had such a good time at Sequoia a couple years ago. We are considering a trip to Kings Canyon in July, but we aren't sure if we will be able to swing it.

Have a great time and I look forward to reading your report when you get back

Thanks for the report J. A few years ago we couldn't get the cabin we wanted in Yosemite for our entire vacation, so we went to Kings Canyon for half the time. It was a lucky decision. We stayed in one of the cabins w/a bath in Grants Grove.

Our son had just turned 7 at the time. We did the Tokopah hike one day and Zumwalt Meadows in the canyon another. Hiking with kids is a different experience because you are forced to slow down and take a lot of breaks. We stopped for a long while in beautiful spot on the rocks on the Tokopah and dipped our feet in the water. Another day, we took a blanket and spent the whole afternoon swimming at Hume Lake.

I hope you (and Utahtea and everyone else) write another report when you have the chance to go back to Kings Canyon. Our stay was far too short.

We are planning 3 to 4 days in Sequioa - Kings Canyon at the end of June. We went to Sequioa in April 1990 with our two sons. I remember the road to Kings Canyon was still closed because of snow and I was so disappointed then so I really want to explore that area. I also love waterfalls so that's another to do on our list.

We will be camping but it was to late to make reservations so we will have to get a first come first serve site early one weekday morning. We will be in our motorhome but this time we will have a little tow vehicle to go exploring. We haven't been able to get away as much as we usually do, so I'm really excited to get a week to get away!

You might have to nag for the trip report...I'm always so bad with those!

Utahtea

In Kings Canyon if you have time, I recommend the Zumalt Meadow trail and the Mist Falls trail.

Devon - Hiking with my husband is about the same pace as hiking with kids. He is a photographer, so we spend A LOT of time hanging out while he takes 20 pictures of the same thing - LOL. He gets some great shots though.

Sounds like my DH J_C! Anyway, we want to go to Sequoia NP maybe this summer or early fall this this is good info.

Hehe...I'm the slow one with the when we are hiking!

Utahtea

My wife and I just returned from a trip out west that included Sequoia National Park. Wow!! We drove up the windy road Rt. 198 . We are from Florida and are not used to windy mountain roads... made us kinda dizzy. The traffic was heavy to say the least. However, it was well worth it when we got to the top. We took the shuttle up to Moro Rock from the museum and the views from Moro Rock were incredible. Then we hiked 2.4 miles back to the museum where we had parked. The hike was through a grove of giant sequoia trees. Un-freekin-believable!!Best hike ever>> and I have thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail. We didn't do much else after that.. had lunch and decided to return to our B & B at the bottom of the mountain ... a place called The Plantation in Lemon Cove,CA.Note to readers>> DO NOT STAY HERE> The owners are selling it and as much as it looks like a nice place to stay,suffice it to say it is NOT.The owners are unfriendly and do not care about their guests. Other than at breakfast (which is served between 8:30-9:30,,, too late for us as we were up and gone by then to take advantage of the early morning cooler temperature and the lack of traffic going into the Park.).. the owners are never there.They did have someone there who took care of checking guests in but she was young and seemingly clueless as to what guests there need... like information about the area. She also looked like she was annoyed by our questions because it interupted her many cell phone conversations. By the way, if you do stay here, be prepared for 20 mile drives (at least) if you want to go anywhere for dinner.Lemon Cove consists of a gas station/grocery.

J_Correa: Great Report! Gave a really good "feel" for that lovely park!

My last trip to Sequoia was also in 2005, coming back from Arizona. Just a quick drive-through with one stop to gape in wonderment all over again at those giant trees.

Looking forward to your report on Kings Canyon!