Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park

[boutros]

I am going on a short work trip to Vegas next month and would like to drive out to Sequoia and Kings Canyon 4 days beforehand. Does anyone have any suggestions on trails to hike or things to see? Which park do you like better? How would you split your time?

[WM]

These are both great parks, but we only went once, about 10 years ago. We preferred Kings Canyon, as it was less crowded, but it depends what you're looking for. I recall them being pretty similar in terms of looks and topography.

[SkisALot]

Two hikes you could look into are Mist Falls in Kings Canyon and Heather Lake in Sequoia. Both parks have some incredible scenery and different from each other. The Kings River is spectacular; I was there last week and it was running BIG but probably not as big as today since the valley has warmed up to 100. By next month it will be even less, but still beautiful; there's a lot of snow in the high country yet to come down.

[meridiver]

The two parks are actually quite different. The focus at Sequoia is the big Sequoia trees. These trees are just awe-inspiring. They are so huge and the oldest are several thousand years old. Every time I see them, I'm reminding of just how insignificant I am in the scheme of things.

Kings Canyon is less crowded. I believe it does have some Sequoia groves at the entrance to the canyon, but not like Sequoia. It's more about the canyon scenery, the river, etc. It takes awhile to drive between them so if you want to visit both, I'd say to split your time evenly. They are both worth a few days. Both have good long and short hikes. The ranger stations will have info on those.