Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [371]
Here you'll find the towering General Grant Tree amid a grove of spectacular giant sequoias. The tree was discovered by Joseph Hardin Tomas in 1862 and named 5 years later to honor Ulysses S. Grant. It measures 267 feet tall and 108 feet around, is thought to be the world's third-largest living tree, and is possibly 2,000 years old. This tree has been officially declared "The Nation's Christmas Tree" and is the cornerstone of the park's annual Christmas tree ceremony.
Two and a half miles southwest of the grove is the Big Stump Trail, an interpretive hike that winds among the remains of logged sequoias. Since sequoia wood decays slowly, you'll see century-old leftover piles of sawdust that remain from the logging days. Nearby, Panoramic Point visitors can stand atop a 7,520-foot ledge and see across a large stretch of the Sierra and across Kings Canyon. Grant Grove Village also has a restaurant, market, gift shop, post office, and visitor center.
The Cedar Grove section of the park is known for its lush landscape, tumbling waterfalls, and miles upon miles of solitude. Getting to it is half the fun. You drive through Kings Canyon, with the sheer granite canyon walls towering above you and the wild South Fork of the Kings River racing by. One mile east of the Cedar Grove Village turnoff is Canyon View, where visitors can see the glacially carved U shape of Kings Canyon. Easily accessible nature trails in Cedar Grove include Zumwalt Meadow, Roaring River Falls, and Knapp's Cabin. Zumwalt Meadow is dotted with ponderosa pine and has good views of two rock formations, the Grand Sentinel and North Dome. The top of Grand Sentinel is 8,504 feet above sea level; North Dome, which some say resembles Half Dome in Yosemite, towers over the area at 8,717 feet. The mile-long trail around the meadow is one of the prettiest in the park. Begin this walk at a parking lot 4½ miles east of the turnoff for Cedar Grove Village.
Roaring River Falls is a 5-minute walk from a parking area 3 miles east of the turnoff to the village. Even during summer and dry years, water crashes through a narrow granite chute into a cold, green pool below. During a wet spring, these falls are powerful enough to drench visitors who venture too close. The route to Knapp's Cabin is a short walk from a turnoff 2 miles east of the road to Cedar Grove Village. Here, during the 1920s, Santa Barbara business-man George Knapp commissioned lavish fishing expeditions. This tiny cabin was used to store tons of expensive gear.
Ten miles west of Cedar Grove, in the national monument and back toward Grant Grove, is the entrance to Boyden Cavern, the only other cave in the area where tours are available. Although it's not as impressive as Sequoia's Crystal Cave, Boyden is a scenic cave, known for a wide variety of formations including rare shields. Highlights include a flow-stone formation known as Mother Nature's Wedding Cake and the aptly named Baby Elephant formation. The cave is open daily April through October. Hours are 10am to 5pm from June through September, 11am to 4pm in April, May, and October. Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children 3 to 13, free for children under 3. Buy tickets at the entrance. For information, contact Sierra Nevada Recreation Corporation, P.O. Box 78, Vallecito, CA 95251 (☎ 866/762-2837 or 209/736-2708; www.caverntours.com).
In Cedar Grove is a small village with a store and gift shop, restaurant, laundry, showers, lodge, and campgrounds. This region of the park is often less crowded than others. It's closed from mid-November to mid-April.
The Monarch Wilderness is a 45,000-acre region protected under the 1984 California Wilderness Act. Part of it lies on the grounds of Sequoia National Forest, and it adjoins wilderness in Kings Canyon National Park. It's small, tough to reach, and so steep that it seems more appropriate for mountain goats than human hikers. You're near the wilderness area when you pass Kings Canyon Lodge and Boyden Cave.
The Jennie Lakes Wilderness, at 10,500 acres, is tiny enough to hike