Eighty percent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon are accessible only on foot. With 25 trailheads and 800 miles of hiking trails, there are plenty of ways to get out and see the area's unspoiled wilderness.
Easy Hikes
A few of the more popular, shorter hikes in Sequoia and Kings Canyon include:
- Moro Rock: It's a 300-foot climb up 400 steps cut out of solid granite, but well worth the effort for the views you get from the top.
- Congress Trail: This 2-mile trail near the General Sherman Tree takes most people one to three hours round trip.
- Crescent Meadow: Some say naturalist John Muir called this place the "gem of the Sierra." It's located about 1.5 miles east of Moro Rock, and the hike is about a hour long.
- Big Trees Trail: A one-hour, 1.5-mile round trip that starts near Giant Forest Museum. This trail is wheelchair accessible.
- Zumwalt Meadow: A 1.5-mile, one-hour, self-guided nature trail near Cedar Grove in Kings Canyon.
The Sequoia and Kings Canyon hiking
guide lists hikes with distances and a brief description. It's good for picking out an interesting hike, but you'll need to get a map before you set out.
For the More Adventurous Hiker
Craig Adkins, an active hiker and mountain climber, recommends these hikes and provides some photos for those of us who think roughing it is a night at a hotel without a swimming pool:
Craig says the definitive book on hiking into Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks is
Sierra South by Winnett, Morey & Winnett, with a great fold-out map inside the back cover.
