Kings Canyon and Sequoia in One Day

Kings Canyon and Sequoia in One Day

By: Ivy Lim

It was about 3 hours of travel from Yosemite National Park to Visalia. It’s the closest town to Kings Canyon or Sequoia National Park. Well, it’s the town that has the most affordable motel rates. It was just an overnight stay. Super 8 Wyndham in Visalia should be avoided at all costs.

The room was spacious but the room looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since forever. The coffee machine hasn’t been washed since it was first used. The room was very dusty. Phone line didn’t work. It was affordable but not cheap. One of the more expensive motels that we stayed in during our travel from Lake Tahoe down to Los Angeles. The saving grace of this motel was that it was an hour away from the parks we wanted to visit and served free breakfast. Again, avoid this motel!

I did leave a review and hopefully they address it. Breakfast was served at 6AM. So quickly just stuffed ourselves to get the most out of our stay and to not eat lunch anymore.

Kings Canyon looked like it was still in winter season. High elevation and snow covered this wonderful park. Lots of winding turns to get to this place. So, be extra cautious when driving here.

Entrance to the park is $20 I think per vehicle. The real attraction of the Kings Canyon is the General Grant Tree. It’s one of the biggest trees in the world.

Snow, everything except the path is covered in snow

The area isn’t that big and if you don’t mind walking, it’s actually a nice stroll. Too bad it was just too cold to really do anything except to take quick snaps. Totally not dressed for weather.

Inside of a fallen Sequoia tree

Kings Canyon is less touristy and you won’t have to share with the crowd. It isn’t as popular as its neighbor the Sequoia National Park. If you’re looking for a place with less people then I recommend Kings Canyon.

General Grant Tree

I took the picture using my Samsung A6. Picture quality isn’t the best but the top of the tree is green with some snow on it. There were only a few people walking around the area so it’s nice and you won’t have to wait in line to take the picture of the sequoia tree.

There aren’t as many sequoia trees as Sequoia National Park. You don’t really need to spend the whole morning probably an hour or two. Due to the weather and the cold, we spent an hour or less.

It was 40 minutes of driving from Kings Canyon to Sequoia National Park. It’s really just like one big park if you ask me. We almost missed the drop off point or the parking area for General Sherman tree, which is the most famous sequoia tree in the world. It can be quite confusing when using navigation maps so really you need to keep an eye out for your destination.

General Sherman Tree is more up close and you could just see how huge the trunk of the tree really is. Somewhat too crowded to take your time for picturing the famous tree.

The Tough Twins

It’s really cool to see the Tough Twins. Two sequoia trees side by side and roughly the same height. It’s difficult to walk through all that snow and even the pathways are slippery because of the ice. Even I slipped on the pavement. No one saw.

Unfortunately, due to the snowy conditions we weren’t able to see the Moro Rock. We could have walked it but it was a couple of miles and no one wanted to walk with me. We did visit the Giant Forest Museum. It was warm inside and you get to learn all about the sequoia trees.

Sentinal Tree is just outside of the museum

Here’s a picture of just how large the trees are compared to people.

It’s best to visit the parks in the summer season. Probably less cold and not that much snow. It’s also easier to explore as well and most of the sights will be open too.

Even in spring, bring winter clothes if you plan to visit one of the parks. It was around afternoon we left for Los Angeles. Travel time was about 3 or 4 hours. On the way down try to stop by at this picture stop:

Almost cloud level...it’s cool to see this in person