Kings Canyon and Sequoia are separate national parks, but share park administration. Basically, once you enter one park, you travel seamlessly in both parks without having to go through another entrance station. Although contiguous to each other, they are quite different. Because we entered at the Big Stump entrance, we explored Kings Canyon NP first.
At the Kings Canyon visitor center, we watched a film featuring both parks and learned surprising bits of both parks history. Established in 1890, Sequoia NP is the second national park in the US. Shortly after, the nearby Grant Grove area became General Grant National Park. In 1940, FDR established Kings Canyon NP and transferred General Grant NP (which was only 150 acres) to the much larger Kings Canyon NP. For this reason, Kings Canyon features two separate sections – Grant Grove and Cedar Grove.
Grant Grove
On the Grant Tree trail, we wandered a relatively flat path among a sequoia forest. Discovered in the 1860s, the General Grant Tree soars 267 feet into the sky. The base itself spans over 29 feet wide. To get a picture of the entire tree, we had to set the camera to panorama which somewhat distorts the image.
In 1926, President Coolidge dedicated the General Grant as “The Nation’s Christmas Tree.” Since then, the Sanger County Chamber of Commerce hosts an annual holiday program, Trek to the Tree, on the second Sunday in December. Additionally, President Eisenhower designated the tree in 1956 as a “National Shrine” for our country’s fallen military service members.
We also passed by the Gamlin Cabin where two brothers, Thomas and Israel Gamlin, settled the area in 1872. Later, the cabin served as the park ranger’s residence.
The Fallen Monarch is another fascinating site on the trail. Hollowed out by fire, the 167-foot tree fell some 300 years ago. Because sequoias don’t decay quickly, visitors can still walk through it. Over the years, it provided shelter for many: first as a temporary home and saloon for the Gamlin brothers and later as a stable for the US Calvary.
Kings Canyon Scenic Byway
Next, we decided to spend the rest of our day exploring the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon. Two hikes intrigued us – Roaring River Falls and Zumwalt Meadow. Both are short and we wanted to see both a waterfall and meadows.
Somewhat reminiscent of Yosemite, the one-hour drive to Cedar Grove twisted and turned but offered many scenic vantage points.
We descended lower and lower from an altitude of 6,600 feet down to 4,600. Soon, we drove along the river and the canyon floor. The vantage point was completely different being down in the valley.
We heard a thud when the car hugged a corner of the highway but we didn’t thing anything about it. We were still about 20 minutes from Cedar Grove when we stopped to listen to the water cascade down the rocks. At this point DH confirmed what he expected after hearing the thud – we had a flat tire.
Drat and Double Drat! We weren’t going to reach Cedar Grove at all – especially since it’s more isolated. However, we had an amazing, peaceful view while DH changed the tire to the spare in the rental car. Since the spare was a small donut, we decided to get back to our Lodge at Grants Grove Village. Even then, we were miles away from civilization. While changing the tire, only one car passed us on the byway. Although disappointed, we felt thankful that there was a spare, DH knew how to change it and we had reached the canyon floor.
John Muir Lodge
We booked our accommodations at the Grant Grove Cabins next to the John Muir Lodge. Check-in for both is at the lodge. When we checked in, the hotel employee gave us two keys. She said, “The first is for your cabin, the second is for the public showers.”
What? When we booked the cabin, we thought we selected the “Deluxe Cabin with Bath” instead of the “Rustic Cabin.” Somehow there was a mix-up and we booked a rustic cabin instead. Although the cabins with a private bath were completely booked, one lodge was still available. We gladly paid the price difference for the upgrade. Upstairs two queen beds, an electric fan to provide relief in the non air-conditioned room, and (most importantly) a private bathroom greeted us.
The hotel staff recommended we make dinner reservations for the Grant Grove Restaurant. Just a short walk from the lodge, the restaurant offered views through large windows while serving casual, family-friendly fare.
Getting back to the flat tire issue, DH called AAA and the rental car company after dinner. Each said we needed to backtrack to Fresno to get tire fixed. In that case, we would miss Sequoia NP completely.
Things tend to look better in the morning. After a good night’s sleep, we decided to continue through Sequoia NP and head over to Visalia to switch rental cars. With our plans in place, I could relax more. At the end of the second floor hallway, I found a public balcony area with wooded views. It was the perfect spot to drink coffee in the morning before checking out and going to Sequoia NP.
