Explore two national parks (and a national forest) full of giant trees and amazing views.
Visiting Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks have been a dream of mine for a while, so I couldn’t go to California without stopping. I only had a day, a very rainy day, to explore both parks but I still was awestruck at all the beauty and, of course, the giant sequoias.
Sequoia National Park is famous for its giant trees. It was really rainy, which didn’t clear up until the afternoon, so I only saw a very small portion of all these huge sequoias. Sequoias are the largest trees on the planet. They grow to an average height of 164-279 ft (50-85 m) tall (record making trees were over 300 ft tall). It is really hard to truly grasp how big these trees are until you see them in person.
I arrived early to Sequoia National Park on a very rainy day.
The only animals I saw were a bunch of deer at a picnic area. Those ears are adorable.
Starting to see some sequoias! These are just young ones, not quite giant yet.
The famous Tunnel Log. You can still drive through it which is awesome, and I did. Yay for tiny cars!
Most of the giant sequoias here are in the appropriately named Giant Forest. This is where you will find the General Sherman tree. That’s it in the middle.
General Sherman is a big fella. This tree is the largest by volume tree in the world.
Another giant sequoia nearby.
A crosscut of a sequoia. Parts of this same sequoia were delivered around the world to museums to prove sequoias existed.
The Giant Forest is also home to Sugar Pines that have pinecones the same size as a men’s size 8.5 shoe. Sequoias on the other hand have very small pinecones. You would think that the larger tree would have the largest pinecones, but nope. Nature is weird.
I love this view with the fog lifting through the trees.
Turn around and you get this lovely view of a stream.
Just enough fog clearing to see the sun over the Sierra Nevadas.
On the way to Kings Canyon, right before you leave Sequoia, is the Lost Grove, which has even more sequoias right by the road.
Next stop was Kings Canyon National Park which also has some giant sequoias in General Grant Grove, famous for the General Grant tree.
Just some giant sequoias right next to the parking lot.
Close up!
The General Grant tree, “the nation’s Christmas Tree.” It doesn’t really look like a Christmas tree to me.
I just can’t get enough of the magnificent trees.
Kings Canyon is separated into two parts by the Sequoia National Forest. This area was just simply gorgeous. One of the most amazing roads I have ever driven. It took me forever to get to the actual National Park because I kept stopping to take photos, which is my custom on any pretty road.
Just simply stunning.
A distant stream across Kings Canyon.
Who couldn’t stop for this view?
A waterfall in the distance. I couldn’t find a name for this one.
I finally made it to the bottom of the canyon.
Grizzly Falls in the rain.
I finally made it to the national park of Kings Canyon after stopping a million times. It was threatening rain, so I didn’t do any hiking (Kind of still bummed about that. I vow to return.), but I did get to see an awesome waterfall.
This is at the Canyon View viewpoint. Simply wonderful.
Took a short walk to see Roaring River Falls. It was quite a wonderful waterfall. The recent rains probably helped as well.
I’m so glad I got to visit these two amazing National Parks and the most beautiful National Forest I have ever been too. The heavy rain in the morning wasn’t the best, but it certainly didn’t ruin the day. I just can’t wait until I can explore these wonderful parks again and hopefully do some hiking.
On a side note, I finally got to scratch “See a Giant Sequoia” off my bucket list and fulfill one of my 2018 goals.
Check out my next update where I visit the famous Yosemite Valley!
