After several fun and busy days in Sequoia National Park, we drove the Generals Highway north into Kings Canyon National Park for a couple additional days of time outdoors. While Sequoia and Kings Canyon are technically two separate parks, they operate as one unit so it made perfect sense to explore both during our visit.

The Generals Highway is often closed until May due to snow so I had resigned myself to that reality and the likelihood that we would need to exit Sequoia and drive out and around to access Kings Canyon.

When we checked on the road status, however, the Sequoia rangers said that the road was already open given how little snow the area received this year. While low snowpack is not a good thing, I couldn’t help being pleased we were able to experience the wooded and scenic drive to Kings Canyon.

Given we wanted to spend a couple days in the park, we stayed in Yokuts Valley so we would be relatively near the park entrance. Unfortunately we were too early in the spring to access most of the park, which was still closed due to winter weather, but we did make the most of the Grant Grove district. Here’s how we spent our time:

Day 1: Kings Canyon Visitor Center, Hume Lake Road / Overlook, and Big Stump Trail

We began our time at the Kings Canyon Visitor Center, grabbing a park map and learning which areas of the park we could access from a very helpful ranger. The visitor center also had a great park film that I’m glad we watched upon arrival – it gave us a much better sense for the different park districts and what we could expect in Grant Grove.

The ranger recommended driving the Hume Lake Road to an overlook of the main section of the park so we headed that way first. The road turnoff is next to the farthest point currently accessible into the park and a bit of an offroad experience – we had dirt and dust flying everywhere as we bounced around the narrow curves to the viewpoint.

To be honest, the viewpoint was a bit underwhelming. While we could see out toward the canyon that gives the park its name (pictured below on the left), the sky was cloudy and overall visibility was limited. At the next pull off, we enjoyed more interesting views of Hume Lake (pictured below on the right), and decided not to continue on Hume Lake Road back to the visitor center, instead retracing our steps. I think our personal vehicle thanked us!

We decided to conclude our day with a hike around Big Stump trail. While the trail certainly does wind through a number of big stumps, the stories about why and how these giant sequoias were cut down were less than uplifting. Although I do think it’s important to appreciate both the good and bad of this area’s history, I much preferred our time enjoying the sequoias that are still alive and well. Overall this was a fairly easy hike at 1.6 mile / 2.6 km and 275 feet / 84 m gain, but not one I would prioritize.

We had a bit more excitement than planned heading back to our hotel when I spotted a turtle that was trying to cross the busy highway just outside the park. Brian slammed on the breaks and pulled a u-turn, and I ran out to gently relocate it to the safety of the nearby ditch – crisis averted! We celebrated with pizza and brews at Bear Mountain Pizza next to our hotel.

Day 2: North Grove and Dead Giants Loop Trails and the General Grant Tree Loop

We started our second day with bagels and coffee from Clingan’s Junction – definitely recommend – before heading back into the park for some more hiking and the chance to view the second largest tree in the world, the General Grant.

After following the signs to the General Grant parking area, we headed away from the tree and caught the North Grove trail out to the Dead Giants trail, making a multi-loop course before circling back to our vehicle. This area was busier than I expected, especially after we caught up with a group that seemed to be taking a photography course.

I really enjoyed our time in the woods – it was peaceful and relaxing, we have nice if foggy views from the Dead Giants viewpoint, and we ended up seeing quite a bit of wildlife, including squirrels, chipmunks, Steller’s jays, robins, butterflies, and moths.

We ended our day hiking the short loops around the General Grant, which included a path through a downed sequoia, an old cabin made from the trees, and of course the massive General Grant itself. All in all, our hikes came to 3.5 miles / 5.6 km with 823 feet /251 meters gain.

After the crowds we experienced in Sequoia National Park, the relatively quiet of Kings Canyon National Park was a welcome reprieve.

I wish we could have explored more of the park and look forward to returning another time later in the season when the main district is open.