California, National Parks

Kings Canyon National Park

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We almost didn’t go….

After a very full day on Wednesday, May 10 at Sequoia, we planned to spend Thursday getting caught up on chores and such.  We planned our visit to Kings Canyon for Friday, still not totally sure what we were going to find there.  We seriously considered skipping it all together, as a quick check of Google Street View wasn’t revealing much more than a tree-lined road.  Well, something stirred in us that Thursday morning and before we knew it, we were in Edsel and headed for Sequoia’s brother to the north!

Rather than take the same road we took the day before, we decided to try the road that ran west of Sequoia through the foothills. What started out as a two lane road with painted lines quickly turned into a narrow country lane, somewhat reminiscent of the roads we experienced in Kentucky.  I had to tame my inner Formula One driver, so as to not go over the side. 😉. The road gained elevation as we went, eventually leading us to the entrance to Kings Canyon.

Looking at this photo and the previous one, it’s hard to believe they were taken an hour apart!  Our fears of a cloudy day soon dissipated as we drove further into the park.  We stopped at the Grant Grove Visitor Center to gather more information about Kings Canyon and ended up speaking to Ranger Meredith, a seasoned dynamo full of enthusiasm for her beloved workplace.  That stop paid off in gold as the day progressed. As we headed to the heart of the canyon, the road actually leaves the park for a stretch and enters Giant Sequoia National Monument.

This outstanding area was elevated to monument status in 2000.  The road through it is the only way to get into the main portion of Kings Canyon. With most of the turnouts on the opposite side of the road, we opted to catch them on our way back home.  Seeing what we had to look forward to was like knowing we were going to have a great dessert after our meal.  😃

One thing Ranger Meredith asked us was “Any geologists here?”  We expressed our interest, so she told us to go exactly 1/2 mile past Boyden Cave and look at the rock wall on the driver’s side.  She said that even though there isn’t a pulloff, stop in the road and take a photo…and if the cars behind us didn’t like it, too bad.  😉

Wow!  I guess this says a lot about the makeup of subterranean California!

From there, we headed upriver to Grizzly Falls.

This powerful torrent was the culmination of Grizzly Creek just prior to it entering the Kings River.

From there, the road re-entered the national park.  Our next stop was Roaring River Falls.

It definitely was roaring!  Diana asked a NPS trail worker what we could expect to see in July, if we had come then instead.  He said that the river would actually be higher in July, as the warm temperatures would be melting the mountain snowpack more quickly than it currently was.  

From there we went to Zumwalt Meadow.

We crossed this suspension bridge along the way.

We also had to cross over this flooded pathway, as a small creek was over its banks in this section of the trail.

This was the payoff at the end of the trail!  It was a very peaceful place to be.  From this point, the road went just a little farther to a place called Road’s End.  Diana spoke with three hikers there who had crossed the Sierras from the east.  It took them six days.  They had snowshoes as part of their gear, and they mentioned that there still is a lot of snow at the higher elevations.  There are several trails that leave from Road’s End that are more our speed, and we definitely want to return to try them in the future.

Heading back out the same road, we had a little surprise along the way.

Three wide load trucks with what appeared to be some sort of temporary housing units on the back came by!  I was over as far as I could possibly get, and had a few thousand foot drop off to my right.  Yikes!

The difference in height between the river and the mountaintops is around 8200 feet, making Kings Canyon one of the deepest canyons in the United States!  

As I stated earlier, we almost didn’t make the trip that day.  The next morning, the clouds hung at 2000 feet, so we wouldn’t have seen much of anything.  We were glad we made the effort when we did, so we were able to see the spectacular scenery that Kings Canyon has to offer.

Though it is a bit of a challenge to get to, take the time to experience it.  You won’t be disappointed!

Next up, we head towards Napa Valley!  Be sure to stay tuned!

26 thoughts on “Kings Canyon National Park”

  1. Loved both of these National Parks, we were there a year ago and whilet the snowpack wasn’t great, the grandeur of both parks was awesome.

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  3. Dang, that’s deeper than the Grand Canyon. I’ve never been to Kings Canyon but you’ve certainly peaked my interest. Sometimes the misty days are the best. The ripples in that rock are superb. Can’t believe there wasn’t someone stopping traffic with rigs that wide. Time to hold your breath.

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    1. Maybe deeper, Gaelyn…but nowhere near as wide! Definitely check it out! Be sure to look up Meredith; she was a neat lady. Would love to see the park in the mist…just not the first time. 😊

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    1. Thanks, Bob! We were surprised the other day that we’ve been in California almost a month. It really has been a lot of fun. We are looking forward to getting to Oregon!

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  5. Wow!! Definitely adding this place to the list of must sees! Loved the rock wall. Mike has experience in well drilling, and stuff like this fascinates him! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. This would be an easy place for you to see on your way south from BC in the fall! I wouldn’t recommend taking the rig into the parks, but there is plenty of camping outside.

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  7. We didn’t get to see that much of Kings Canyon when we were there as it still had a lot of snow, it’s on the list of places to revisit! Especially after seeing your pics! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I understand it gets busy in the summer. There were a few areas scheduled to open the next week, so I would recommend coming one week later than we did. With that being said, we filled our time there, Kelly!

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  8. Don’t you just love it when you make last minute changes to your plans and they turn out spectacular! Wow! What great views and the falls were beautiful. Glad the ranger told you about that rock formation in the wall. Very cool! They should have closed that road so those trucks and trailers could get up there without sharing the road. Scary!! Great decision to visit:)

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    1. We couldn’t believe how fortunate we were, as there were so few people there, Ingrid…especially since we heard afterwards that Yosemite was packed. There were several nice campgrounds along the river; some suitable for smaller rigs.

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  12. Sometimes those “let’s just do it” days are the best!! Wonderful photos of a very beautiful place. We were sorry we missed it this time but now I know we will definitely make the trip next time.

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