Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park are home to several natural biggies, from immense mountains to deep canyons via giants of the leafy sort. Not surprisingly, the parks are not only big physically, but big as in popular, particularly with outdoors enthusiasts. These two adjacent national parks were the country's second and third so designated, and together with Giant Sequoia National Monument as well as vast tracts of federal wilderness take in a significant portion of the Sierra Nevada.
Because the elevation of the parks ranges from 1,500 feet to nearly 15,000 feet, visitors can expect to find stunningly diverse habitats and dramatic climate changes to mark topographical transitions. Travelers on the Generals Highway will climb over 5000 feet from chaparral and oak-studded foothills to the awe-inspiring sequoia groves. From there, trails lead to high-alpine wilderness or down beneath the surface to quiet limestone caverns. Though scenic drives and short nature trails offer the casual visitor opportunity to get a glimpse of what makes this place so special, the best way really to squirrel out park secrets is on an extended hike into the more remote reaches of the parks.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are located in east central California, about 200 miles north of Los Angeles. For more information on the parks and the surrounding area, please select an area of interest from the navigation bar on the left.
