Kings Canyon National Park

California

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1890 as General Grant National Park, 1940 as Kings Canyon National Park

461,847 acres

Website: nps.gov/seki

Overview

Jointly managed with Sequoia National Park since 1943, Kings Canyon does not often receive the individual accolades that it deserves.  The separate Kings Canyon area was added in 1940 to keep this 8,200-foot-deep valley from being dammed.  Much of the park is a mountain wilderness, which can be most easily seen from 7,520-foot Panoramic Point on the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway.  Unlike Yosemite National Park, there is no road over the Sierra Nevada to access the east side.

Learn more about how to visit this National Park in the expanded second edition of our guidebook A Park to Yourself: Finding Solitude in America’s 63 National Parks. 

Highlights

General Grant Tree, Kings Canyon Scenic Byway, Panoramic Point, Cedar Grove, Roaring River Falls, Zumwalt Meadow, Mist Falls, Redwood Canyon, John Muir Trail, Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail

Must-Do Activity

Kings Canyon Scenic Byway is a curvy road that offers plenty of great views as its winds from the General Grant Grove through Giant Sequoia National Monument to dead end at Cedar Grove.  One must-do stop before you reach the park boundary is Grizzly Falls, which also has a picnic area.  Another inside the National Park is Roaring River Falls, an easy half-mile walk down the River Trail near the end of the road.  Between the two sections of the park along the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway, the U.S Forest Service manages Boyden Cave and offers tours in the summer that include a visit to the Bat Grotto (see where it placed on the list of Top 10 Caves in National Forests).

Best Trail

Woods Creek Trail leaves from near Cedar Grove and is an eight-mile roundtrip hike back to beautiful Mist Falls.  Permits are required to backpack along the John Muir Trail, one of the most scenic stretches of the 2,655-mile Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. 

Photographic Opportunity

The General Grant Tree is a giant sequoia currently measuring 268.1 feet tall and 29 feet in diameter, making it by volume the second largest single-stemmed tree on the planet after General Sherman in Sequoia National Park. [Disclaimer: Not sure this photo is actually of General Grant.]

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

$35 per vehicle or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

Closed in the winter, the steep and curvy Kings Canyon Scenic Byway is a paved road that always makes us feel a little nauseous due to the elevation change.  Not far upstream from hectic Cedar Grove Village, a smooth section of the South Fork Kings River is traced by a quiet one-way dirt road that meanders through the forest on the north bank. 

Camping

The National Park Service runs several large campgrounds clustered around Grant Grove and Cedar Grove.  Sequoia National Forest also offers several campgrounds between these two separate sections of the park, including a nice one along the shores of Hume Lake.

Related Sites

Yosemite National Park (California)

Giant Sequoia National Monument (California)

Inyo National Forest (California)

Sequoia National Park (California)

Explore More – How long is the popular Rae Lakes Loop backpacking route, which can also be accessed from the east through Inyo National Forest over Kearsarge Pass?

Know someone who loves National Parks? Gift them our travel guidebook A Park to Yourself: Finding Solitude in America’s 63 National Parks.