Around this time last year I was posting about going to Mt. Rainier National Park. It honestly feels like a million years ago now because I’m posting about our family trip to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks as a family of FOUR. I bring this up because it was on that trip I learned I was pregnant with baby #2. So crazy.
In my blog post for Mt. Rainier, I point out that we love to travel after Labor Day because it’s typically cheaper and less crowded. While we are a few weeks after that this time, I would say it still applies.
Why these parks? In my research of National Parks, I noticed that these parks seemed to have a lot of points of interest and trails that were on the shorter (roughly 1 mile roundtrip) and easier side (ranked Easy on AllTrails), making them more family friendly and accessible. I feel like this park lived up to my expectations as I felt like we really got to experience these parks and not miss out on much considering the short planning time (3 weeks) and that we were traveling with two littles. Read along to learn a little more about the park, what we did, and what we’d do differently!
Basic Information
Sequoia National Park is the second ever National Park! It was established in 1890, followed by General Grant National Park one week later that would ultimately become Kings Canyon National Park in 1940. These sister parks are connected via the Generals Highway, which has portions that may close seasonally due to weather.
Sequoias are the main draw of Sequoia National Park, which means that Generals Highway is going to be a curvy and steep drive to get you from 800 ft of elevation in Three Rivers, CA – Sequoia National Park’s entrance – and to the trees that grow at 4,000 – 8,000 ft. Make sure you take your time on the trails and stay hydrated. Key attractions are going to be General Sherman Tree and the Big Tree Trail, both in the Giant Forest.
Kings Canyon National Park is home to a steep canyon that you drive through on Highway 180 (open seasonally), a cave, Sequoia trees, mountains, and waterfalls. It truly has it all in the Yosemite Valley without the crowds of Yosemite National Park. Key attractions are going to be the General Grant Tree in the Grant Grove section of the park and Zumwalt Meadow’s giant Sequoias in the Cedar Grove portion of the park.
Peak time to visit would be May – October. May and June will have the best waterfall flows. Prior to travel, make sure to check the official National Park Service website for the latest road conditions as some of the roads are closed from mid-November thru April. As always – this is something I can help with when planning!
Park Entrance fee is $35 for 1-7 days.
Annual Interagency pass is $80.
*Subject to change.
How We Got There
We flew Southwest Airlines into Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) and rented a car. Car rental for the airport is onsite (which is always my preference when traveling with my kids).
Fresno Yosemite International Airport is about 1 hr 10 minutes to the Kings Canyon NP Visitor Center, and 1 hour 30 minutes to the Sequoia NP Visitor Center.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at the Comfort Inn & Suites Sequoia Kings Canyon in Three Rivers, CA. Three Rivers is about 6 miles from the Ash Mountain Entrance Station of Sequoia NP, making this a great location to get in and out of the park without staying in the park.
Pros: The hotel was clean, had free breakfast, free parking, a pool, and yard games.
Cons: Not updated. Bathtub left a lot to be desired, but it worked.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP offers multiple lodging accommodations, which I would recommend trying out if you are booking far enough in advance.
What We Did
Day 1
Context: Thursday at the end of busy season. We left our hotel before 7 am to drive up to the Kings Canyon portion of the park.
GPS took us not through Sequoia but via Dry Creek Drive. Would not recommend taking this route. The street is not well maintained, no lines on the road, and no cell service.
After our harrowing adventure to get to the park entrance, we are about 2 miles away, and my toddler got sick. Let me just be honest that we were not prepared for this in any way.
We spent about 15 minutes at a pull out getting him cleaned up and made our way in to the park. It was about 8:15 am at this point and the pay stations were open. We were the second or third car in line to pay. This park wasn’t busy the day we were there, so it was surprising there was a line at the entrance station.
Once officially in the park, we drove straight to Grant Grove Village to finish getting the toddler, car seat, and car cleaned up. Grant Grove Village has a great market that this time of year opens at 9 am. It has a great combination of food, beverages, and necessities including paper and cleaning products. This is also the site of one of the in park lodging accommodations and a restaurant that opened at 7 am for breakfast. The gift shop opened at 10 am.
About 9:15 am we hit the road again ready to start really experiencing the national park.
We drove to the Cedar Grove Visitor Center and Village. The village included a gift shop, market, restaurant, and lodge. We took this opportunity to walk around, throw rocks in the river, and feed the baby.
Roaring River Falls: A 0.3 mile out and back trail to a pretty waterfall. The path is fully paved and wheelchair accessible. We loved this stop.
Zumwalt Meadow: Listed in guides as .8 miles roundtrip. We found it to be an easy trail with minimal elevation gain and a fun suspension bridge to get to the official lookout. Unfortunately, there was some damage to the trail so it is no longer a loop, and you cannot go out to the official lookout either. We still really enjoyed the walk and the view of the meadow we can see. Note: if you go beyond the lookout, the terrain changes to rock which we didn’t want to traverse with the toddler to see what was beyond it.
General Grant Tree Trail: 0.5 mile roundtrip easy trail loop through a Sequoia grove. The General Grant Tree is the widest Sequoia. It was pretty cool to see, but I think the other highlight of this trail was being able to fully walk through a fallen Sequoia. This gets busy.
Panoramic Point: This is 0.5 mile out and back trail with elevation gain…at elevation. The road to get here was rough. It’s technically two lanes, but there are no lines. Take it slow and I recommend more of a defensive drive as there were some terrible drivers on this road. It was cloudy the day we did this, so it was hard to really see anything. Can’t say it was worth it for us personally but may want to give it a go if the weather is clear.
We took the Generals Highway through the park to get back to the hotel. While slower because there was traffic at the end of the day and everyone was leaving – we felt this was the right call since the road itself would be safer.
Day 2
Context: Left the hotel around 7 am to spend the day in the Sequoia portion of the parks. Forecast for this day was rain. We did not go in a strategic order here if you follow this on a map but roll with it
General Sherman Tree Trail: 1.2 mile out and back trail from the non-handicap parking lot. I’m going to call this a moderate trail as it is essentially 0.5 miles down to the tree and 0.5 back up the same trail back to your car with 212 ft of elevation change which doesn’t sound like a ton…but it’s literally the entire trail. The tree is incredible and it is part of a grove that is fun to explore. Congress Trail loop starts near the tree and can add another mile to the trail. I recommend adding this on if your family is up for it – unfortunately for us, it started pouring while we were seeing the tree and we needed to head back to the car.
Tunnel Log: This is on Crescent Meadow Rd in the Giant Forest portion of Sequoia NP. If going during peak time, I would probably prioritize hitting this up first thing in the morning because I can see how this would easily get backed up and long traffic lines. It was very cool to be able to drive through the tree.
Crescent Meadow: There are a few trails to choose here. Again, very pretty. We just walked around and then got back in the car to go to the next thing.
Auto Log: There is a parking lot to experience this fallen Sequoia tree off of Crescent Meadow Rd. This was a fun stop as you are able to walk on the log.
Lodgepole Visitor Center and Village: This was probably our favorite visitor center. It seemed the newest and had some interactive options my toddler really liked. Next to the visitor center is a market, which had probably our favorite gift shop, a hiking gear area, a coffee shop and restaurant, and laundromat. It had a lot of tables outside to enjoy a meal or relax for a bit. Beyond the village is a campground.
Wuksachi Village: This is another of the lodges that visitors can stay in the park. The lodge building is so cute and has a market, lounge areas, and a restaurant. The restaurant is only open during breakfast and dinner daily this time of year and offers lunch on the weekends.
Big Trees Trail: 1.2 mile loop through a Sequoia grove. I’d call this any easy trail. Use the Giant Forest Museum Parking to access this trail (be aware this parking lot can get very busy). This was so pretty to get up close to the trees and it surrounds a meadow. Takes about 30 minutes to do.
After the Big Trees Trail my kids were melting down, so we made our way back to the hotel to relax for the rest of the day, wrapping up our time in the two national parks.
Places to Eat
Three Rivers
- Pizza Factory. We did carry out one night and dined in another. Food was fine. You order at the counter and let’s be real – after a park day that is clutch.
- Ard-Farkel’s. Newer restaurant in town in a former golf clubhouse. Had good service, food was fine.
- Restaurant offerings in town are a bit minimal unless you drive the 34 miles to Visalia.
Kings Canyon NP
- Grant Grove Village: Restaurant offering all meals. Has sit down and to go options. There was a decent line for coffee when we were here.
- Cedar Grove Village: Check hours, was not open when we were here.
Sequoia NP
Lodgepole Market: Coffee stand and restaurant with some tables inside and mor tables outside.
Wuksachi Village: Pizza eatery and bar. Open for breakfast and dinner 7 days a week in the fall and adds lunch on the weekends.
Things We’d Do Differently
Next time I would love to stay at one of the lodges in the park. They looked so cute, we just didn’t book far enough in advance due to the nature of our trip (we booked 3 weeks out).
Other hikes we missed that I’d like to do in the future:
- Big Stump Loop
- North Grove Trail
- Tokopah Falls Trail: This is supposed to be best in the spring. A little over 3 miles roundtrip so be prepared if traveling with kids.
Depending on when you are traveling and how much time you have, these would be an easy add on to visiting Yosemite National Park.
Overall, we loved these parks and all their beauty. The trees are larger than life and were awesome to experience. We also loved the slower pace of these parks, especially Kings Canyon. They are not as visited, especially the time of year we were there, so we weren’t worrying about parking at each point of interest which is typically my biggest point of stress when visiting national parks.
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