Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks Giant Trees
These two parks are located adjacent to each other in the Sierra Nevada mountains and are quite similar. Both parks are awe-inspiring, and have mountains, grasslands, caverns, river valleys, canyons, and sequoias. Most of the land in the two parks is a roadless wilderness, but there are many trails you can take if you want to explore more. The parks also have well over 100 caves.
Sequoias are the world’s largest trees (single stemmed version – so there are multi-trunk trees like banyans that are bigger). In these parks, you can see the General Sherman tree with is the largest tree on earth, as well as the General Grant Tree (the second largest).
These parks are home to varied wildlife, including foxes, coyotes, marmots, badgers, turtles, owls, wolverines, pikas, beavers, ground squirrels, mule deer, bighorn sheep, black bears, and rattlesnakes. There are even mountain lions although you are very unlikely to see them.
The area was initially settled by Native Americans, and pictographs can be seen in the park.
Although many large sequoias remain, numerous others were logged. Although loggers intended to take down many sequoias for the wood, the species was found to be a poor option for lumber since they splinter easily. Additionally, not long after these forests were found, people were trying to protect the massive trees as part of their heritage. Despite this, part of a 300-foot sequoia was taken to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. Interestingly, people at the Exposition thought it was a hoax, as no tree could possibly be that big. Lol.
Attractions in the park:
- Sherman Tree
- General Grant Tree
- Tokopah Falls
- Crescent Meadow
- Moro Rock – a large granite dome
- Tunnel Log – a fallen sequoia with a tunnel cut through it for cars to pass (you can’t drive through it now)
