Help me see the Sequoias

[EastWest Gal]

Superb map. I recommend Calaveras Big Trees state park as an alternative to Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks. There are some great trails there and much less crowds.

It's very close to Angels Camp, which holds its annual Frog Jumping contest the third week of May and has some gold rush history to its name.

Many have mentioned the coastal redwoods as being much taller, but that is hard to appreciate when one is only 5-6 feet tall. Much easier to appreciate the huge trunks of the giant sequoias.

Fun fact about redwoods. There is a third type of redwood, called the Dawn Redwood, that has a very limited natural habitat in China. It is a deciduous tree. It was thought to be extinct. Apparently it was found all over the northern hemisphere when dinosaurs roamed the earth. The seeds have been collected and the tree is being propagated. My community college in California had one tree in its botanical garden.

https://www.ourbreathingplanet.com/...c_CJt8BtlaK1HuSTd_DFKPCV6jJC7VgxoCvwsQAvD_BwE

BTW, coastal redwoods can be found in many places that aren't parks and preserves. DH's childhood home in the Oakland hills had coast redwoods in the front yard. So did other homes in the area.

 

[1242Vintage]

Just saw this post. Adding my 2 cents.

Be aware that the pacific coast highway south of Monterey is frequently damaged by winter storms and can take months to re-open. (Made my living designing and repairing winter storm damage … and business repairing highway 1 damage continues to be good!).

The iconic and beautiful coastal redwoods in that direction might not be accessible if PCH is damaged by winter storms.

https://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/highway_conditions.html

My favorite place to hang out on the North Coast is. Ft. Bragg. Plenty of easy close access to groves of coastal redwoods and other sights like Glass Beach. Some good restaurants and breweries there too.

 

[oiseux]

I know this is an older thread, but the OP is not going till 2025. The sequoias exist both in Sequoia NP and Kings Canyon (and Yosemite). The large groves are split between the two, although one is closed due to damage from the 2021 fire. At the Three Rivers entrance there are a number of lodging choices if you are not able to secure space at the Lodge. The most popular groves are accessible via the road or shuttle bus, but to get to the General Sherman tree a 0.5 mile walk is required.

 

[Winemaker]

Instead of flying into SFO, I highly recommend flying into SAC. I have spent too much precious time i lines at airlines, baggage and rental car counters in SFO. In SAC, we have been on the road, 35 minutes after deplaning at the gate. Also, in SFO, you are on the southern part of SF, and you have to drive north through the city which is also traffic dependent.

 

[Popsicletoes]

We did a short road trip from Sequoia and King's Canyon National Park to San Diego a couple of years ago. Flew to Fresno Airport (about 50 something miles to the National Park), spent half a week there, and then drove to San Diego and flew home from there. It's actually 2 national parks (hence the name Sequoia and King's Canyon National Park) connected with a scenic road winding down the side of a cliff.

Wukachi lodge is inside the National Park so you can stay there, and just walk a few steps and the giant trees are all around you. Or you can stay outside of the park, bring your car, and just drive around the scenic drive (the trees will be all around you as well).

I highly suggest going there in the Spring (we went there end of April / early May) before the start of fire season. Plus the weather is much nicer in the spring. All around us I could see remnants of burnt trees. The tallest Sequoia (or maybe the oldest?) is located in this park. We chose to visit this park and skipped Yosemite due to crazy crowd (I heard Yosemite receives 5x the amount of tourists that Sequoia & King's Canyon National Park gets each year, so it was an easy choice for us between the two). Even in April, the weather was already in the mid to high 80s when we got to lower elevation (the towns outside of the park) but it's 10-20 degrees cooler inside the park since you're climbing up to higher elevation. My fondest memory was eating lunch in the car with just another car parked pretty far from us, and some birds signing serenading us, with the giant trees all around us. Just so peaceful and beautiful.

Oh, make sure you do the scenic drive that connects the two parks on King's Canyon Highway. You'll pass through the fast moving water of King's River and a couple of waterfalls (the waterfalls are easily accessible from the parking lot, like maybe 5 -10 mins easy walk on flat surface) - one of the most beautiful drives we did in the US.