Past POIs - Sequoia National Park [California, USA]

Point of Interest: Sequoia National Park
Location: California, USA
Date of visit: September 2017

When I think about National Parks for USA, I normally think of two, Yosemite and Yellowstone, however, with the experience that I had at Sequoia National Park, I wonder why it isn't higher or better known.

Sequoia National Park was ranked 65 out of 374 parks in terms of visitors in 2016 with 1.25 million visitors. It being roughly 3.5 hours away from Yosemite, if you are in the area, I'd suggest paying them a visit if you can.

The main tourist attraction here are the large Sequoia trees which are the biggest (in volume) trees in the world. When we drove in from the south, as the driver, I immediately stopped after seeing the first set of really large sequoia trees. My wife told me not to freak out over them since they were small ones, but that didn't calm my excitement for seeing them and taking pictures with them.

As you drive inside, you will see more and more of them, some that have toppled over and are actual attractions for visitors. For example, there is a tree that has fallen over and they carved an opening so that car could drive through the tree itself! Also, there is another fallen one where you can walk through it.

And then, there are the two main trees that people should look out for, the General Sherman and the General Grant.

The General Sherman is currently the largest tree in the world and you can see why. Oddly, you can't actually get up close to any of the two main trees since they are surrounded by fencing, but when I got up close, I was amazed. How could something this large exist?

The General Grant, unfortunately was missed by us due to poor signage and my reluctance to wander to see if another tree at the Grant (and it was). It isn't the largest tree, but very large nonetheless.

Admission may change annually, so, check the official website https://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

2017 - California Day 7 (Sequoia National Park)

Friday September 15, 2017. Today, we leave Tulare and travel through Sequoia National Park for the day and we will be staying at the Montecito Sequoia Lodge.

Sequoia National Park - Yup, that's the trunk of a fallen tree

Quality Inn did have breakfast which was the usual breakfast that I expect from this chain.

Quality Inn Breakfast

Sequoia National Park is the park in California that has the famous Sequoia trees which are the species of trees that are the largest in the world. Prior to getting here, we noticed that there were a lot of farms here where I assume most of the fruits and vegetables we get are grown. It is really odd to see desert and then just vast greenery.

California orange trees?

We paid for the annual pass which cost us $80 for a year, good for all the national sites in USA and hopefully we make our money back. Going by the places we will visit, Sequoia & Kings Canyon costs $30, Yosemite costs $30, so we only had to visit one more place to make our money back. The card is good for a vehicle (admission is by vehicle, not by person at least for these parks).

Me in between Sequoias

We drove in and I was shocked when I saw the first Sequoia tree. Allison told me to calm down since there would be lots of them, but I still had to stop and take some pictures and she was right, there are lots of them here. Little did I know that the ones that I see at the beginning, aren't even the big ones!

Sequoia National Park - Tunnel Log

Sequoia National Park - Deer!

Tunnel Log is the first site (we saw Hospital Rock, but I don't think it is worth the stop) and it is a fallen Sequoia tree that is so large, you can actually drive through it! There were lots of people here waiting to take pictures of it and people to drive through and record it, so it did take some time. Your wait depends on what you want to do and how many people happen to be there.

Sequoia National Park - Moro Rock in the background

Sequoia National Park - Moro Rock Trail base

Sequoia National Park - Moro Rock top

Moro Rock is next and it is a good hike for a nice view that is just over 7,000 ft above sea level. It is a short 15 minute hike if you are worried.

Yup, that tree is bigger than the Statue of Liberty.

Stopped by the Giant Tree Museum which is home to the Sentinel, one of the largest sequoias that they have here. Inside the museum is a diagram that compares the size of the sequoia to things like a rocket ship and the Statue of Liberty to give you an idea of how large the trees are.

Sequoia National Park - General Sherman

Next up, the General Sherman! The largest living tree by volume in the world! Apparently there are trees that are taller, older, and wider than the Sherman, but it made it no less impressive. It is over 270 ft tall and 36 ft wide. When you see it, it is absolutely ridiculous that something this large could exist.

Sequoia National Park - Tokopah Falls

Tokopah Falls Trail is next and we started at 3:30pm, making it to the waterfall at 4:40pm, and finally finishing at 5:25pm. Meaning it too us roughly 2 hours round trip. Your duration is dependent on your speed and what you are interested in taking pictures in.

Tokopah was our final stop for the day, so we headed to the hotel next, Montecito Sequoia which we were both pretty excited for. Your stay includes a buffet dinner as well as a buffet breakfast. If you stay more than one day, buffet lunch is also included with your stay!

Montecito Sequoia Lodge - buffet dinner menu

Montecito Sequoia Lodge - buffet dinner

With dinner finished, we unloaded and called it a day. Tomorrow, we head through King's Canyon and drive to our hotel, Cedar Lodge, located just outside of Yosemite National Park.