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Kings Canyon National Park

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Kings Canyon National Park, California.

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Overview

With a dramatic cleft deeper than the Grand Canyon, rugged Kings Canyon offers true adventure to those who crave seemingly endless verdant trails, rushing streams and gargantuan rock formations. The camping, backcountry exploring and climbing here are all superb. While its neighbor, Sequoia National Park, gets all the glory, Kings Canyon also has groves of enormous Sequoias and its trails are far less trafficked. Grant Grove is where you'll find General Grant, the second-largest tree in the world. Peaks more than 14,000ft high occupy other parts of the park, most of which is designated wilderness, although the main road Kings Canyon Scenic Byway (Hwy180) is quite the drive – it twists and bends through some of the most dramatic scenery in California (only open end April to October). The Big Stump Entrance, not far from Grant Grove Village, is Kings Canyon National Park's only entrance station.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • General Grant Grove

    General Grant Grove

    Kings Canyon National Park

    This sequoia grove off Generals Hwy is astounding. The paved half-mile General Grant Tree Trail is an interpretive walk that visits a number of mature…

  • Redwood Canyon

    Redwood Canyon

    Kings Canyon National Park

    More than 15,000 sequoias cluster in Redwood Canyon, making it one of the world’s largest groves of these giant trees. In an almost-forgotten corner of…

  • Roads End

    Roads End

    Kings Canyon National Park

    Six miles east of Cedar Grove Village is the end of the road for cars. A seasonal ranger station issues wilderness permits, sells maps and hiking guides,…

  • Roaring River Falls

    Roaring River Falls

    Kings Canyon National Park

    A five-minute walk on a paved trail (0.3 miles) leads to one of the park’s most accessible waterfalls, a 40ft chute gushing into a granite bowl. In late…

  • Grant Grove Village

    Grant Grove Village

    Kings Canyon National Park

    About 3 miles northeast of the park’s Big Stump Entrance, Grant Grove Village is the park’s main tourist hub year-round, with lodge and cabin…

  • Panoramic Point

    Panoramic Point

    Kings Canyon National Park

    For a breathtaking view of Kings Canyon, head 2.3 miles up narrow, steep and winding Panoramic Point Rd (trailers and RVs aren’t recommended), which…

  • Mist Falls

    Mist Falls

    Kings Canyon National Park

    One of the most popular destinations for a day hike from the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon, Mist Falls is an Edenic spot, with massive boulders,…

  • Cedar Grove

    Cedar Grove

    Kings Canyon National Park

    Cedar Grove, at the bottom of Kings Canyon, is the last outpost of civilization before you reach the rugged grandeur of the Sierra Nevada backcountry. The…

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