Kings Canyon National Park is a national park in the United States, located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. It was first created in 1890 as General Grant National Park. The park was later expanded and renamed Kings Canyon National Park on March 4, 1940. The park's namesake, Kings Canyon, is a deep valley shaped by glaciers, more than one mile (1,600 meters) deep. Other natural features include many peaks over 14,000 feet (4,300 meters) high, high mountain meadows, fast-flowing rivers, and some of the world's largest groups of giant sequoia trees. Kings Canyon is located north of and connected to Sequoia National Park. Both parks are managed together by the National Park Service as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
Most of the park's 461,901 acres (186,925 hectares) is set aside as wilderness. The area is drained by the Middle and South Forks of the Kings River and smaller streams. Visitor facilities are mainly in two areas: Grant Grove, which includes General Grant (the second largest tree in the world by trunk volume), and Cedar Grove, located in the center of Kings Canyon. Overnight hiking is required to reach most of the park's backcountry, which is often covered in deep snow for much of the year. A backpacking trail called the Pacific Crest Trail/John Muir Trail runs through the entire park from north to south.
General Grant National Park was first created to protect a small area of giant sequoias from logging. Although John Muir's visits raised public awareness about the large wilderness area to the east, it took over 50 years for the rest of Kings Canyon to become a national park. Environmental groups, park visitors, and local politicians wanted the area preserved, but some wanted to build hydroelectric dams in the canyon. Even after President Franklin D. Roosevelt expanded the park in 1940, the debate continued until 1965, when the Cedar Grove and Tehipite Valley dam sites were added to the park.
After World War II, more people visited the park, leading to discussions about whether it should be developed as a tourist resort or kept as a natural area for activities like hiking and camping. In the end, the preservation movement won, and the park now has only limited services and lodgings despite its size. Because of this and the lack of roads to most areas, Kings Canyon remains the least visited of the major Sierra Nevada parks. In 2017, it had about 700,000 visitors, compared to 1.3 million at Sequoia and over 4 million at Yosemite.
Geography and natural history
Kings Canyon National Park is located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, east of the San Joaquin Valley. The park is split into two different parts. The smaller and older western section is centered around Grant Grove, which is home to many of the park’s sequoia trees. This area has most of the visitor facilities. The larger eastern section covers most of the park’s area and is mostly wilderness. It includes the deep canyons of the Middle and South Forks of the Kings River. Cedar Grove, at the bottom of Kings Canyon, is the only part of the park’s eastern area reachable by road (via Highway 180). Although much of the park is covered by forests, the eastern section includes high mountain areas above the tree line. These areas are usually snow-free only from late June to late October and can only be reached by foot or horse trails.
The Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness covers over 768,000 acres (311,000 hectares) in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, which is nearly 90% of their combined area. Kings Canyon is surrounded by several national forests and wilderness areas, including the Sierra National Forest, Sequoia National Forest, and Inyo National Forest. The John Muir Wilderness borders much of the park’s northern half, and the Monarch Wilderness protects much of the area between the park’s two sections.
Kings Canyon has some of the steepest vertical differences in North America. Peaks over 14,000 feet (4,300 meters) on the Sierra Crest along the park’s eastern border drop to 4,500 feet (1,400 meters) at Cedar Grove, just ten miles (16 kilometers) to the west. The Sierra Crest forms the park’s eastern boundary, stretching from Mount Goethe in the north to Junction Peak, where it meets Sequoia National Park. Several passes cross the Sierra Crest into the park, including Bishop Pass, Taboose Pass, Sawmill Pass, and Kearsarge Pass. All of these passes are above 11,000 feet (3,400 meters) in elevation.
Several smaller mountain ranges within and around the park include the Palisades, which are along the park’s eastern border. The Palisades have four peaks over 14,000 feet (4,300 meters), including North Palisade, the park’s highest point at 14,248 feet (4,343 meters). The Great Western Divide runs through the park’s south-central area and has many peaks over 13,000 feet (4,000 meters), such as Mount Brewer. The Monarch Divide, located between the lower Middle and South Forks of the Kings River, has some of the most difficult-to-reach terrain in the park. Other rugged ranges, like the Goddard Divide, LeConte Divide, and Black Divide, are in the park’s northwest section. These ranges are dotted with high mountain lakes and deep chasms.
Most of the park’s mountains and canyons are made of igneous intrusive rocks such as granite, diorite, and monzonite, formed at least 100 million years ago due to tectonic activity along the boundary between the North American and Pacific plates. However, the Sierra Nevada itself is a young mountain range, no more than 10 million years old. Tectonic forces pushed the area upward, creating the mountains’ gentle slope to the west and a steep escarpment to the east, near the Owens Valley. Many caves, such as Boyden Cave along the South Fork of the Kings River, are also found in the park’s rock layers.
The high country of the park was shaped by glaciers during the Ice Ages over the last 2.5 million years. Large glaciers moved as far as 44 miles (71 kilometers) down the South and Middle Forks of the Kings River, carving deep U-shaped valleys at Cedar Grove, Paradise Valley, and Tehipite Valley. These valleys are similar to Yosemite Valley, which was also shaped by glaciers. The term “yosemite” was used by John Muir in the 19th century to describe these valleys before they were known by their own names.
Glacial valleys in the park have flat floors and high granite cliffs and domes. Tehipite Dome, the largest granite dome in the Sierra, rises 3,500 feet (1,100 meters) above the floor of Tehipite Valley. Over time, rockfalls from these cliffs have created large piles of broken rock at the bases of the valleys.
Zumwalt Meadow is one of the few flat areas in the park. It was formed by sediment left behind when a glacier retreated. In Kings Canyon, four such sediment deposits, called “nested moraines,” are found along the Kings River. These moraines create whitewater rapids where the river otherwise flows calmly through meadows.
Other glacial features include hanging valleys, waterfalls, sharp ridges, and alpine lakes. Some high peaks still have permanent snow and glaciers, such as Palisade Glacier, the largest glacier in the Sierra. These glaciers formed during cold periods in the last 1,000 years and are now melting rapidly due to rising temperatures. They may disappear completely in the coming decades.
Several major rivers in the Sierra Nevada originate in the park. The South Fork Kings River flows from near Taboose Pass and carves the canyon that gives the park its name. The Middle Fork Kings River begins near Mount Powell and drains much of the park’s northern half. A small area in the park’s northern tip is drained by the South Fork of the San Joaquin River. The Kings River drops more than 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) from the Sierra Crest to Pine Flat Reservoir in the San Joaquin Valley, making it the longest undammed drop of any North American river.
Most of the park’s borders are formed by natural divides between river basins. The eastern boundary follows the Sierra Crest, which is drained by the Owens River, part of the Great Basin watershed. The southern boundary with Sequoia National Park separates the Kings, Kaweah, and Kern Rivers. Part of the western boundary follows the divide between the Middle and North Forks of the Kings River.
The forks of the Kings River meet in the Sequoia National Forest, just outside the park’s western boundary, to form the main river. Here, the river creates one of the deepest canyons in North America, with walls rising as much as 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) from the river to the rim—about half a mile (0.8 kilometers) deeper than the Grand Canyon. The canyons upstream at Cedar Grove are also
Climate
According to the Köppen climate system, most of Kings Canyon National Park has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb). The lowest elevations in the park have a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa). The United States Department of Agriculture reports that the Plant Hardiness zone at Cedar Grove Visitor Center, which is located at an elevation of 4,613 ft (1,406 m), is zone 8a. This zone has an average annual extreme minimum temperature of 12.3 °F (−10.9 °C).
Plants and wildlife
Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks are home to over 1,200 types of plants, which make up about 20% of all plant species in California. In 1976, Kings Canyon was named part of the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. The parks have many different plant areas because of the wide range in elevation. At lower elevations, the area has dry Sierra foothill zones with chaparral, brush, and shrubs. Along streams and springs, oaks, sycamores, willows, and other hardwoods are common.
At middle elevations, the parks are mostly covered by mixed-conifer forests. These forests include ponderosa pine, incense cedar, white fir, sugar pine, and giant sequoias in places like Cedar Grove and Grant Grove. Kings Canyon runs mostly east to west, and the north side is hotter and drier because it gets more sunlight. The south side is cooler and has more trees. At higher elevations, red fir and lodgepole pine grow more often. Near the tree line, whitebark pine, mountain hemlock, and foxtail pine are the main trees. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks together protect 202,430 acres (81,920 hectares) of old-growth forests.
Although Sequoia National Park is more famous for its giant sequoias, Kings Canyon also has large groves of these trees. General Grant Grove includes the second-largest tree on Earth, General Grant. The Redwood Mountain Grove, located a short distance south, is the world’s largest surviving sequoia grove, covering more than 2,500 acres (1,000 hectares). It also has the tallest sequoia, which is 311 feet (95 meters) tall. The Converse Basin Grove, just outside the park, was once much larger but was almost completely cut down in the late 1800s. Some groves, like the Big Stump Grove, are slowly growing back, but this process will take many years.
The forests support many animals, including mule deer, Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, mountain lions, and black bears, as well as birds and reptiles. The Park Service is working to restore bighorn sheep populations, which are endangered. In 2014, several bighorn sheep were released into the area. Grizzly bears once lived in the park but were hunted to extinction by the early 1900s. The Kings River is also known for its wild trout, making it one of the best places for trout fishing in the state.
At high elevations, plant communities include meadows, herbs, shrubs, and scattered groves of foxtail pine and whitebark pine. Trees in these areas often grow in a bent, deformed way called krummholtz. Talus slopes (rocky areas) are home to small animals like pikas and yellow-bellied marmots. Birds such as gray-crowned rosy finches and American pipits, and amphibians like mountain yellow-legged frogs and Yosemite toads, live near alpine lakes and wetlands. Bears may visit the alpine zone for food but do not stay there during winter.
Most of the park is now designated as wilderness, but human activities have affected the ecosystem for a long time. Native Americans used controlled burns to clear brush and help plants grow. In the early 20th century, a policy of stopping all fires caused too much debris in the forests. By the 1960s, scientists realized that fires were needed to help sequoias grow, so they intentionally started a fire in the Redwood Mountain Grove. This led to new sequoia seedlings and the start of a planned burn program in 1972.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, summer grazing by sheep caused damage to the park. Sheep trampled meadows, leading to erosion and harm to water sources. Grizzly bears and wolves were killed in large numbers because they preyed on livestock. By the early 1900s, these animals were gone from the Sierra Nevada. Although the Sierra Forest Reserve was created in 1893, illegal grazing continued until 1917, when the government began managing grazing more carefully. Sheep were banned from Kings Canyon in 1940. Livestock grazing is still allowed in some nearby areas, and hikers may see fences that help control livestock movement.
The decline of natural predators in the early 1900s caused deer populations to grow rapidly. Park visitors feeding deer made the problem worse, leading to overgrazing and loss of plant life. In 1940, the Park Service began shooting deer to reduce their numbers, but this method was criticized. Today, only pack horses and mules are allowed in the park, and they are restricted to certain areas and seasons to protect meadows.
The park still has a healthy population of black bears, which are usually not aggressive but may steal food from humans. The Park Service uses bear lockers and bear canisters to store food safely and has relocated bears away from busy areas. These efforts have helped reduce conflicts in the backcountry, but problems still occur near developed campgrounds. Visitors are asked to store food and scented items in lockers and dispose of trash in bearproof cans. Rangers sometimes have to kill bears that become too used to human food.
Human history
People have lived in Kings Canyon National Park for about 6,000–7,000 years. The Owens Valley Paiutes (also called the Eastern Monos) traveled to the area from their homeland east of the Sierra Nevada, near Mono Lake. They used acorns, deer, and small animals for food. They created paths for trading between the Owens Valley and the Central Valley west of the Sierra Nevada. The Yokuts lived in the Central Valley and went into the mountains in summer to collect plants, hunt, and trade. They did not build homes in the high mountains because the winter climate was too harsh. Before Europeans arrived, the Yokuts population was between 15,000 and 20,000, and the Monos numbered about 6,000.
In the 1500s, some Eastern Monos moved across the Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley. They settled near the Kings River, close to the Yokuts, and became known as the Monaches or Western Mono. Over time, they split into as many as six groups, one of which lived near Grant Grove. Native populations suffered greatly during the 19th century. A smallpox outbreak in 1862 killed most of the Monache, and few remain in the area today.
Early Spanish explorers of California did not visit what is now Kings Canyon National Park. In 1805, Gabriel Moraga led an expedition through the Central Valley and crossed the Kings River, naming it Rio de los Santo Reyes (River of the Holy Kings). Fur trappers visited the area in the 1820s but likely did not go into the high mountains because beavers lived only at lower elevations. Prospectors came during the California Gold Rush, which began in 1848, but little gold or other minerals were found there. In 1858, Hale Tharp, a gold miner, discovered Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park, leading to the discovery of other sequoia forests, including Grant Grove.
In the 1860s, a road was built to Grant Grove, and many sequoias there were cut down. The first sawmill opened in 1862, and logging expanded northward, nearly destroying Converse Basin, once one of the largest sequoia groves in the world. The Boole tree, the largest in the grove, was saved. Joseph H. Thomas, a sawmill operator, discovered the General Grant tree in 1862. His business partners, the Gamlin brothers, claimed the land around Grant Grove, and their home (built around 1872) is now a historic site.
In the 1870s, a government survey highlighted the beauty of General Grant Grove, and Israel Gamlin gave up his land claim so the area could be protected. However, logging continued. In 1875, a 300-foot (91 m) sequoia was cut down, and a part of it was sent to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. People in the East did not believe the tree was real and called it the "California Hoax." The Centennial Stump and most of the tree remain in Grant Grove, where women from a nearby logging camp once held Sunday school on the stump.
The first non-native people to explore what is now Kings Canyon’s high country were likely John C. Fremont’s group in 1844. They tried to cross the Sierra Nevada via the Kings River but were stopped by a snowstorm and had to return to the Central Valley. In 1858, the J.H. Johnson party successfully crossed the Sierra via Kearsarge Pass, the eastern end of Kings Canyon.
The first scientific study of the area was the 1864 Whitney Survey, led by William Brewer. After failing to reach the top of Mount Whitney, Brewer’s team traveled into Kings Canyon via Native American paths. They noted its similarity to Yosemite and were amazed by the canyon’s towering cliffs. They named several features, including Mount King, Mount Gardiner, the Palisades, and Mount Brewer. From the peak that would later be called Mount Brewer, Brewer described the view.
Brewer’s team left Kings Canyon via Kearsarge Pass, where they met prospectors led by Thomas Keough. These miners had been exploring the North Fork of the Kings River and were returning to the Owens Valley, showing they had crossed the Middle Fork—a region once thought impossible for non-natives to reach. In 1869, sheepherder Frank Dusy discovered and named Tehipite Valley on the Middle Fork and later grazed his sheep there. Most of the high country remained largely unvisited and unexplored for many years.
John Muir visited Kings Canyon in 1873, noting its similarity to Yosemite Valley. This supported his theory that valleys were shaped by glaciers during the last ice age, challenging the idea that earthquakes formed them. Muir’s writings about the park’s geology and sequoia groves helped push for its protection. In 1880, logging claims in Grant Grove were stopped by the federal government, partly due to efforts by Colonel George W. Stewart.
In March 1890, a bill (H.R. 8350) was introduced to Congress by Representative William Vandever to create Yosemite National Park. Later, this bill was replaced with H.R. 12187, which also included plans for General Grant National Park and the expansion of Sequoia National Park. The origins of the bill are unclear, but local politicians and Daniel K. Zumwalt, an agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad, may have influenced it. On October 1, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed the bill into law, creating General Grant National Park—the United States’ fourth national park, now part of Kings Canyon National Park’s western section.
For many years, the main way to reach General Grant National Park was the Stephens Grade, a rough wagon road. A stagecoach operated from Visalia starting in the early 1900s. The U.S. Army protected the park from illegal grazing and hunting. As visitors increased, sanitation and waste became problems. In 1907, about 1,100 people visited the park. By 1913, a new road reached the park, and that summer, 2,800
Recreation
Grant Grove is the only place where cars can enter Kings Canyon National Park. It is located 60 miles (97 km) east of Fresno along Highway 180. From the west, Highway 198, also called the Generals Highway, connects to Sequoia National Park in the south. These two roads meet in Grant Grove Village, where Highway 180 continues another 35 miles (56 km) northeast to Cedar Grove. There is no car access from Highway 395 on the park’s eastern side. Public transportation to Kings Canyon is not available. The Big Trees Shuttle, which once ran between Sequoia National Park and Grant Grove, is no longer in service.
The National Park Service has visitor centers at Grant Grove and Cedar Grove. Grant Grove Village is the most developed part of the park. It includes the John Muir Lodge, the park’s largest hotel, visitor cabins, a restaurant, and a general store. Cedar Grove has a small market, but its facilities are much simpler. Grant Grove is open year-round unless extreme weather occurs, while Cedar Grove is closed during winter. Highway 180 is cleared of snow only as far as Princess Meadow, where it connects to Hume Lake Road, which stays open in winter.
Because of limited road access, Kings Canyon has fewer visitors than nearby parks like Sequoia and Yosemite. Park visits dropped sharply in the late 1990s. From 1970 to 1990, the park had about a million visitors each year. By the 21st century, this number had dropped to about 560,000 visitors per year. In 2016, the park had 607,479 visitors, the highest number since 1995, except for 2009. Since records began in 1904, about 53 million people have visited Kings Canyon.
In Grant Grove, the main campgrounds are Azalea, Crystal Springs, and Sunset, with 319 total sites. These campgrounds, except for Sunset, are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Cedar Grove has 314 sites in Sentinel, Sheep Creek, and Moraine Campgrounds, also available on a first-come, first-served basis. The Canyon View group camp requires reservations during busy times. All campgrounds have flush toilets and showers, but water use may be limited depending on the season.
There are several day hikes in areas of the park accessible by road. In Grant Grove, a one-mile (1.6 km) trail leads to the General Grant Tree, and longer trails go to places like Redwood Mountain, the largest sequoia grove. In Cedar Grove, easy hikes include a boardwalk path through Zumwalt Meadow, offering views of Kings Canyon, and a short walk to Roaring River Falls. Longer hikes include an 8-mile (13 km) round trip to Mist Falls and a 13-mile (21 km) round trip to Lookout Peak above Kings Canyon.
Some historical sites are easy to reach by short walks. Gamlin Cabin, built around 1872 by the Gamlin brothers, is believed to be the first permanent structure in the park. Knapp Cabin, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is the oldest surviving building in Cedar Grove, dating to 1925. Boyden Cavern, located just outside the park in the Monarch Wilderness, was temporarily closed from 2015 to 2019 due to damage from the Rough Fire.
Most of Kings Canyon is wilderness, with roads extending only a short distance into the park. Backpacking and, less often, horsepacking are the main ways to explore the park. Overnight backpackers must get a wilderness permit from a ranger station or visitor center. During peak season (May to September), permits are limited, with 75% reserved for advance bookings and the rest for walk-ins. Outside peak season, permits are still required, but there is no limit. Some backcountry trails are heavily used, and stays may be limited to one or two nights. In summer, the Park Service staffs backcountry ranger stations at McClure Meadow, Le Conte Meadow, Rae Lakes, Charlotte Lake, and Roaring River.
Road’s End at Cedar Grove is a starting point for backcountry trips. The Rae Lakes Loop, a 41.4-mile (66.6 km) trail, is a popular backpacking route. It passes through Paradise Valley, the Woods Creek suspension bridge, and alpine areas before reaching Rae Lakes, a chain of glacial lakes below high peaks. The trail also crosses Glen Pass, reaching nearly 12,000 feet in elevation. From the top, hikers can see Rae Lakes and the surrounding area. The Pacific Crest Trail and John Muir Trail form the main trail system, stretching about 77 miles (124 km) from Piute Canyon to Forester Pass in the south. Many hikes, including the Rae Lakes Loop, include parts of these trails. Trailheads at Grant Grove lead to less strenuous hikes in the lower western Sierra Nevada, including the Jennie Lakes Wilderness.
Some parts of the park, like the Middle Fork of the Kings River, are harder to reach and require multi-day hikes over difficult terrain. Simpson Meadow, 23 miles (37 km) from Cedar Grove, involves more than 12,000 feet of elevation change. Other trailheads outside the park, such as the Wishon Dam trailhead in the Sierra National Forest, provide access to remote areas like Tehipite Valley, a 14-mile (23 km) one-way hike. The descent into Tehipite Valley is known as one of the park’s most difficult hikes. Trails from the Owens Valley to the east also require crossing passes over 11,000 feet. The most used eastern route is Onion Valley Road, which ends about a mile east of the park boundary in the Inyo National Forest. The Kearsarge Pass Trail starts at Onion Valley Campground and connects to the Pacific Crest Trail and John Muir Trail via Kearsarge Pass.
In spring and early summer, river crossings can be dangerous. The Park Service has built bridges on some major trails to help hikers. By late August or September, river levels usually drop to safer levels. The high country is typically snow-free from May to November, though heavy snow may linger into July in wet years. In winter, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are common. The Park Service offers ranger-led snowshoe walks and maintains groomed trails in Grant Grove. Longer backcountry trips are possible but are recommended only for experienced travelers due to rough terrain, deep snow, and