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Kings Canyon National Park is where?

By May 2, 2019 No Comments
Kings Canyon NP 1

After seeing the sequoia trees in Mariposa Grove of Yosemite National Park I was excited to visit Sequoia National Park, but to get there you have to pass Kings Canyon National Park located to the north and east of Sequoia NP. Both are administered as one park even though they are two separate parks.

Kings Canyon NP 2

I must admit I had not heard of Kings Canyon before I arrived at the entrance to Sequoia NP, but you know me and I had to check it out. It consists of two parts the western part is the smaller and older part of the national park and is called Grants Grove. This is another stand of giant sequoia trees and contains the General Grant tree, the 3rd largest tree in the world. I am going to talk more about this part when I discuss Sequoia NP.

Kings Canyon NP 3

The part I want to tell you about today is Kings Canyon itself. This part of the park was not established until 1940 in order to save it from being dammed. The canyon is much like Yosemite in that it was carved by glaciers in the last ice age. In order to reach the canyon you have to drive about 30-45 minutes into the wilderness. Once there you are down in a deep valley with a gorgeous meadow and stream. Surrounding you are mountains and vistas. The part that you can drive to is a very small part of Kings Canyon NP and the majority of the park is wilderness that is perfect if you would like to hike, camp, or backpack which I did not do since I did not have the proper permits.

Kings Canyon NP 4

Other than telling you that Kings Canyon NP is worth driving back into and that it is the least visited park in the Sierra Nevada (700k vs 1.3 million at nearby Sequoia and 4 million at Yosemite) I am going to let my photos show you the beauty that awaits you.

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