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A Park Hub Field Guide
Lat 36.7400° N
Long 118.9634° W
Elevation1,370 – 14,248 ft

California · Stamp 29 / 63

Kings Canyon

National Park · Established 1940

A canyon carved a mile deep by two rivers, sharing a boundary and a management office with Sequoia next door.

Area461,901 acres
TrailheadGrant Grove Village, California
Visitors700k / yr
Scroll to begin the ascent
Live · Highway 180 open through Cedar Grove Managed jointly with Sequoia National Park under one entrance fee 1 active alert 70°F · Grant Grove Live layer, from the National Park Service
Best windowJun–Oct for Cedar Grove access · snow closes the road in winter Getting there1.5 hr from Fresno · 5 hr from Los Angeles Fee$35 / vehicle · 7 days, covers Sequoia too
★★★★★ 4.8 from 2 travelers 1 visitor stories 700k annual visitors Grounded in live NPS data
Kings Canyon · Mile 01 · The Story

A canyon carved
a mile deep.

Kings Canyon shares a boundary, a single entrance fee, and a joint management office with Sequoia National Park next door, but its centerpiece couldn't feel more different from Sequoia's Giant Forest. The canyon of the South Fork Kings River drops more than 8,000 feet from rim to floor, deeper in places than the Grand Canyon, carved by glaciers and the relentless work of two rivers over millions of years.

The park's northern grove, Grant Grove, holds the General Grant Tree, the second-largest tree on Earth by volume, and typically far fewer visitors than the General Sherman Tree an hour south in Sequoia. Deeper in, along Highway 180, Cedar Grove opens onto the canyon floor itself, with granite walls rising thousands of feet on either side of the Kings River.

Come for the canyon most visitors to the Sierra never see. Stay long enough to notice how much quieter it feels than its more famous neighbors. Read the story, trust the live data above for what is open today, and when you leave, collect the stamp.

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“
It's a rival of the Yosemite, and the sublimest and most beautiful of all the canyons of the Sierra Nevada.
John Muir, describing the canyon of the South Fork Kings River
General Grant Tree · Grant Grove
"The mountains are calling and I must go."
John Muir
Kings Canyon · Mile 02 · The Essentials

Best Things to Do in Kings Canyon

Six ways to spend your time, from a quiet grove of giant sequoias to a canyon floor a mile below the rim.

See

The General Grant Tree

The second-largest tree on Earth by volume, on a short paved loop with far fewer crowds than Sequoia's General Sherman.

The signature walk
Drive

Highway 180 into Cedar Grove

A scenic descent onto the canyon floor, with granite walls rising thousands of feet on either side of the Kings River.

The signature drive
Do

Walk Zumwalt Meadow

A flat loop through a lush meadow ringed by canyon walls, one of the most scenic easy walks in the park.

Everyone · 1 hr
See

Roaring River Falls

A short, paved path to a powerful waterfall a few steps from the road, easy enough for any visitor.

Everyone · 20 min
See

Sunset from Panoramic Point

A short walk from a parking area near Grant Grove to a sweeping view of the Sierra Nevada high country.

Everyone · sunset
Do

Walk through the Fallen Monarch

A hollowed-out fallen sequoia in Grant Grove you can walk straight through, once used as a stable and even briefly a saloon.

Families · 15 min
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Plan Your Kings Canyon Trip

Answer a few questions right here — we'll map your day, stop by stop, with a route, timings, weather, and a packing checklist grounded in real park data. No account, no leaving this page.

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Field-guide posters and the passport book, from our shop.
When the Crowds ComeMonthly visitors · tap a year
Illustrative shape · wires to official NPS visitation stats · summer peaks shown in gold
Cedar Grove · The Canyon Floor
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir
Kings Canyon · Mile 03 · Trails & Viewpoints

Best Hikes in Kings Canyon, by Difficulty

Every trail rated honestly, with distance, climb, and a note on which grove or canyon floor it belongs to.

General Grant Tree Trail

Easy
0.3 miflat~20 min

A short paved loop to the second-largest tree on Earth by volume, with a fallen sequoia you can walk through along the way. No permit.

Zumwalt Meadow Loop

Easy
1.5 miflat~1 hr

A flat loop through a scenic meadow with towering canyon walls on both sides, one of Cedar Grove's best short walks. No permit.

Roaring River Falls Trail

Easy
0.3 miflat~15 min

A short paved path to a powerful waterfall, one of the easiest big payoffs in the park. No permit.

Panoramic Point Trail

Easy
0.5 mi+200 ft~30 min

A short paved climb to a sweeping view of the Sierra Nevada, best timed for sunset. No permit.

Don Cecil Trail (to Lookout Peak)

Strenuous
13 mi+4,000 ft8–10 hr

A grueling climb from the canyon floor to a fire lookout with a panoramic view over Kings Canyon. No permit.

Permit · overnight

Rae Lakes Loop

Extreme
41.4 mi+8,000 ft3–5 days

One of the classic multi-day High Sierra backpacking loops, past a chain of alpine lakes below Fin Dome. A wilderness permit is required.

No permit for day hikes · wilderness permits via Recreation.gov for overnight backpacking · single entrance fee covers both Kings Canyon and Sequoia

Kings Canyon National Park at a Glance
1  Kings Canyon Visitor Center
2  General Grant Tree
3  Zumwalt Meadow
4  Roaring River Falls
5  Panoramic Point
6  Cedar Grove Visitor Center
Stops shown in visit order. Build a plan above and this map updates to your exact stops.
Kings Canyon · Mile 04 · Life in the Deep Canyon

Wildlife in Kings Canyon: Animals You Might See

Tap any animal to learn its story. Soon, the app will let you log what you spot and keep a life list for every park.

Common in both developed areas of the park. Food storage lockers are mandatory at every trailhead and campsite.

A federally endangered subspecies found only in these mountains, occasionally visible on remote high ridges above the canyon.

Common in Zumwalt Meadow and the meadows around Cedar Grove, especially active at dawn and dusk.

Patrols the canyon and surrounding forest almost entirely unseen, keeping deer populations in check.

Nests on the sheer granite walls of Kings Canyon, occasionally visible diving at high speed over the river below.

Common in the sequoia groves, harvesting cones from the giant trees and helping seeds reach the forest floor.

Native to the Kings River and its tributaries, a draw for anglers with the appropriate California fishing license.

Plant Life in Kings Canyon: What Grows Here

Grant Grove holds some of the largest sequoias on Earth, including the General Grant Tree, second only to Sequoia's General Sherman by volume.

Shares the mid-elevation forest with the sequoias, identifiable by its unusually long cones.

A tall, broad-leafed plant common in the wet meadows of Cedar Grove, part of the lush understory along the canyon floor.

Covers the lower, drier foothills near the park's western entrance, blooming with small pink-white flowers in late winter.

Common throughout the park's mid-elevation forests, its reddish, fibrous bark distinct from the sequoias it grows alongside.

A native shrub found almost exclusively in the shade beneath giant sequoias, part of a specialized community unique to the groves.

Fun Facts About Kings Canyon

Fact 01

The canyon of the South Fork Kings River drops more than 8,200 feet from rim to floor, deeper in places than the Grand Canyon.

Fact 02

The General Grant Tree is the second-largest tree on Earth by volume, after Sequoia's General Sherman.

Fact 03

Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park are managed jointly under a single administration and a single entrance fee.

Fact 04

The park's Cedar Grove area is only accessible via Highway 180, which is closed by snow for much of the winter.

Kings Canyon · Provisions
Gear for this parkvia AvantLink
Trekking polesREI
Layered jacketBackcountry
2L hydration packOsprey
Stay nearbyvia Hipcamp
Forest sites near Grant Grove
Ten minutes from the entrance, sequoia shade included, from $30 a night.
Free Kings Canyon checklistdigital · $0
The printable trail and packing checklist in the field-guide style. Take it, join the trail list.
Kings Canyon · Mile 05 · From the Field Journal

Go Deeper on Kings Canyon

Stories, guides, and hard-won tips from the trail. The full Kings Canyon deep dive lives on the journal.

Trail Guide

The General Grant Tree Without the Sequoia Crowds

Read the guide →
Trip Planning

Cedar Grove vs. Grant Grove: Which to Visit First

Read the guide →
Itinerary

2 Perfect Days in Kings Canyon: Grove to Canyon Floor

Read the guide →
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Offline maps and your passport. Join the app waitlist.
Sponsored · Park Hub
Free Kings Canyon checklist
The printable trail and packing list, in the field-guide style.
★Kings CanyonPark Hub · Collected
Your passport

One stamp,
one story.

Log the visit, keep your story, and watch the map of all sixty-three fill in behind you. Every stamp has a keepsake worth holding.

Kings Canyon · Mile 06 · Where to Next

Keep the Journey Going

Next park

Sequoia

One entrance, one fee, one drive south: from a mile-deep canyon to the largest tree on Earth.

Open Stamp 14 → The collection

All 63 Parks

See the full map and track every stamp you have earned.

View the map → Plan

Build a Trip

Turn Kings Canyon into a road trip with a custom, day-by-day itinerary.

Start planning → Go deeper

The Kings Canyon Deep Dive

The long-form guide: every trail, season, and secret, on the journal.

Read it →
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Thirty-four parks remain
"The parks do not belong to one state or to one section... they belong as much to the man of Massachusetts, of Michigan, of Florida, as they do to the people of California, of Wyoming, and of Arizona."
Stephen Mather · first director of the National Park Service
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