If we were met to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.
My parents came to visit from Florida, and instead of doing all of the touristy LA things, we took a road trip up to Kings Canyon National Park, and rented a cabin! It’s located above Sequoia, in the southern area of the Sierra Nevada, and about a 4 hour car drive from LA. The canyon is a glacier carved valley and the park is sprinkled with some famous sequoia trees as well. The park was originally created to protect a small area of sequoias from logging.
Grant Grove
Our first stop in this park was Grant Grove, which houses the General Grant Tree; aka the Nations Christmas Tree. General Grant is also the second largest tree in the world, (measured by trunk volume). This area used to be its own National Park, called General Grant National Park, but was eventually turned into Kings Canyon There’s even a tree that’s so big, you walk through it like a tunnel.
Cedar Grove
Next up, we took the long drive down into Cedar Grove. It’s a huge glaciated valley that is surrounded by two rock formations, North Dome and Grand Sentinel that shoot out of the canyon floor. We took the Zumwalt Meadow trail that led out to the giant pasture with picturesque views and streams.
This park was pretty empty while we were here, since most visitors were at the more popular Sequoia or Yosemite parks. It was a nice day trip, and if I go back, I’d love to have more time to hit the Crystal Cave. The majority of our day was spent getting down into the valley, and then back up again.
