General information about the National Park
Kings Canyon National Park protects a part of the Sierra Nevada and forms an administrative community with neighboring Sequoia National Park. It offers a wide variety of scenery from canyons to several hundred year old redwood trees.
Current 2024: Also this year the road down to Kings Canyon will remain closed for the time being. Cedar Grove and all points up to Roads End are inaccessible. No date has yet been set for when the road will reopen. Possibly in June 2024. Current information on the road conditions in the park can be found on the official webpage.
Number of visitors
In 2023 Kings Canyon NP ranked 34th in the visitor statistics of the most visited national parks.
Best time to visit: Spring and fall. In the summer the park is most crowded.
Our visits:
So far 2 visits: June 1998, September 2019
Entrance fees and opening hours
- 35$/car and all passengers valid for 7 days
- Covered by the Anual Pass*
- Open 24h all year round.
*The Anual Pass is so to speak the "flat rate" for all Parks managed by the National Park Service. The pass costs a one-time fee of $80 and can be purchased at the entrance to each National Park, National Monument, etc. The pass is valid for 13 months.
Kings Canyon NP
Description: In the area of Kings Canyon, in the middle of the Sierra Nevada, members of the Shoshone tribe settled already since the 9th century. The valleys were settled until 1848, when the first gold seekers came to the Sierra Nevada and gradually drove away the natives. The National Park was founded after the two trappers, pioneers and especially conservationists, Hale Tharp and John Muir visited the area. More and more reports about the redwoods growing here found their way into newspapers and magazines and drew attention to the area. Fortunately for the trees, it subsequently turned out that the wood quality was not useful as a building material or as a source of heating, and so most of the redwoods remained standing, were placed under protection and can still be admired today.
In addition to the Grant Grove, where the redwood trees of the park are located, there is still the actual canyon to discover. Along a great panoramic road you can drive all the way down to the river that has formed the canyon. Here you will find waterfalls and many hiking trails that lead into the huge backcountry of the park.
Our rating: The first time we visited Kings Canyon was in June 1998, unfortunately we had very bad weather and therefore we drove only once the park road to Roads End and spent the night at Moraine Campground. We still enjoyed the visit very much and so Kings Canyon NP was on our bucket list for 21 years before we visited it again in September 2019. However, memories of a place fade a lot when you haven't been there in a while. That's how we felt about Kings Canyon. We also had much better weather on our second visit, so we really enjoyed the drive through the huge and very impressive canyon.
What we particularly liked was the peace and quiet here. There were far fewer people on the road than in Yosemite NP, which we had visited before. We liked it here extremely well and who is looking for a spot where he can still enjoy nature in peace in the southwest, finds one here.
Tipp: Since there is almost no light pollution in Kings Canyon, stargazing is especially enjoyable here.
Cedar Grove
River Trail
Description: The River Trail runs from Roads End, along the Kings River, through the canyon to the west. You can basically hike several miles on the trail, as it connects Roads End with Zumwalt Meadows and Roaming River Falls. The distance to the waterfalls is 2.7mi.
We hiked about 0.6mi on the River Trail, as a ranger had recommended the trail to us. The trail is more or less flat, well maintained and very easy to hike.
Our rating: We really liked the path along the river. After the crowds in Yosemite NP, it was a real blessing to be able to enjoy nature in peace and quiet. In addition, there are very beautiful views and consequently photo motifs. We can definitely recommend the trail.
Zumwalt Meadows
Description: Here you will find the largest flat area within Kings Canyon. Between the steep rock walls you can enjoy nature and the views of the Kings River on a 1.5mi long loop trail.
Our rating: Unfortunately, the trail was closed for renaturation and renovation work when we visited in September 2019. So we could only take a quick look at it. What we saw was quite nice and make us want to see more.
Roaring River Falls
Description: A short 0.3mi paved trail leads to the small waterfall. Since the waterfalls in Kings Canyon are all fed by glaciers, they are also filled with water all year round.
The path is flat and very easy to hike. The time required is about 30 minutes.
Our rating: Nice little waterfall that you can admire all year round. If you drive through Kings Canyon, you should not miss this short stop.
Cedar Grove Lodge
Description: Cedar Grove Lodge is located directly on the South Fork at the very bottom of Kings Canyon National Park. The lodge is a two-story wooden building that offers 18 rooms, a small restaurant and a store. The rooms are not particularly luxurious or new, but they offer all the amenities you need. In addition, everything is clean and tidy.
Breakfast: No breakfast included in the room rate. But there is a restaurant where breakfast is offered.
Our rating: We spent two nights at Cedar Grove Lodge in September 2019. We liked here especially the quiet very well. Unfortunately, our room was located to the rear and directly above the power generator. Since this ran all night, it was quite loud. That was not so great.
But otherwise we liked our stay here. The rooms could use some renovation, but everything was clean and OK. Therefore, we could also live very well with it.
We would stay here again, but would definitely reserve a room facing the parking lot. If you don't like the solitude and would rather have more infrastructure around you, you might be better off at Grand Grove Village.
Grant Grove
General Grant Grove
Description: Isolated from the rest of Kings Canyon National Park, the General Grant Grove is located above the canyon itself. Here in the Grove are the redwood trees of the park. The General Grant Tree is even the second largest tree on earth. The Grove was placed under protection in 1890 to preserve the trees for posterity.
A 0.5mi loop trail allows you to admire the giant trees. The trail is paved throughout and very easy to hike. The largest tree in the Grove is the General Grant Tree. It is over 1500 years old, has a volume of 46608 cubic feet, is 268ft high and has a diameter of almost 40ft. In 1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower declared the tree a National Shrine.
Our rating: The huge sequoias are gigantic and impressive. All the time you hike around with your mouth open and can hardly believe what you see. We were very impressed by the trees and we can only recommend everyone to visit them. In addition, it was not so crowded with people and so you could enjoy everything to the fullest.
Hume Lake
Description: Exactly Hume Lake is not part of the National Park, but because it is located in the immediate vicinity in the Sequoia National Forest, we have included it here for the sake of overview.
Hume Lake was created as a reservoir and dams Tenmile Creek. It was used as a logging site in the early 20th century and is now mainly used for tourist purposes. There is also a Christian Bible Camp along the lake with numerous cabins and recreational facilities.
Our rating: We visited Hume Lake during our drive from Kings Canyon NP to Sequoia NP in August 2019. The lake is very idyllic and offers some nice photo opportunities. You can certainly spend a few days here to relax and unwind.
