Planning Your Time

Sequoia National Park in One Day

After spending the night in Visalia or Three Rivers—and provided your vehicle's length does not exceed 22 feet—take off early on Route 198 to the Sequoia National Park entrance. Pull over at the Hospital Rock picnic area to gaze up at the imposing granite formation of Moro Rock, which you later will climb. Heed signs that advise "10 mph" around tight turns as you climb 3,500 feet on Generals Highway to the Giant Forest Museum. Spend a half hour here, then examine trees firsthand by circling the lovely Round Meadow on the Big Trees Trail, to which you must walk from the museum or from its parking lot across the road.

Get back in your car and continue a few miles north on Generals Highway to see the jaw-dropping General Sherman Tree. Then set off on the Congress Trail so that you can be further awed by the Senate and House big-tree clusters. Buy lunch at the Lodgepole complex, 2 miles to the north, and eat at the nearby Pinewood picnic area. Now you're ready for the day's big exercise, climbing Moro Rock.

You can drive there or, if it is summer, park at the museum lot and take the free shuttle. Count on spending at least an hour for the 350-step ascent and descent, with a pause on top to appreciate the 360-degree view. Get back in the car, or on the shuttle, and proceed past the Tunnel Log to Crescent Meadow. Spend a relaxing hour or two strolling on the trails that pass by, among other things, Tharp's Log. By now you've probably renewed your appetite; head to Lodgepole Grill & Market or the restaurant at Wuksachi Lodge.

Kings Canyon National Park in One Day

Enter the park via the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway (Route 180), having spent the night in Fresno or Visalia. Better yet, wake up already in Grant Grove Village, perhaps in the John Muir Lodge. Stock up for a picnic with takeout food from the Grant Grove Restaurant, or purchase prepackaged food from the nearby market. Drive east a mile to see the General Grant Tree and compact Grant Grove's other sequoias. If it's no later than mid-morning, walk up the short trail at Panoramic Point, for a great view of Hume Lake and the High Sierra. Either way, return to Route 180 and continue east. Stop at Junction View to take in several noteworthy peaks that tower over Kings Canyon. From here, visit Boyden Cavern or continue to Cedar Grove Village, pausing along the way for a gander at Grizzly Falls. Eat at a table by the South Fork of the Kings River, or on the deck off the Cedar Grove Snack Bar. Now you are ready for the day's highlight, strolling Zumwalt Meadow, which lies a few miles past the village.

After you have enjoyed that short trail and the views it offers of Grand Sentinel and North Dome, you might as well go the extra mile to Roads End, where backpackers embark for the High Sierra wilderness. Make the return trip—with a quick stop at Roaring River Falls—past Grant Grove and briefly onto southbound Generals Highway. Pull over at the Redwood Mountain Overlook and use binoculars to look down upon the world's largest sequoia grove, then drive another couple of miles to the Kings Canyon Overlook, where you can survey some of what you have done today. Make reservations for a late dinner at Wuksachi Lodge.