Things to do in Sequoia National Park with kids

“Death is a low chemical trick played on everybody except sequoia trees.” ~J.J. Furnas

For many years I have been mesmerized by giant sequoias.  Can you imagine that these trees are the oldest living things on Earth, some of them are about 3500 years old? They were born over a thousand years before Jesus Christ, they saw the dawns and falls of empires and they endured. Oh, the stories the trees would tell if they could only talk! Giant sequoias only grow in the North-Eastern part of California at the altitude between 5000 and 7000 feet in isolated groves in the Sierra Nevada mountains. So not surprisingly, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks trip was the very road trip with kids I planned when we moved to California.

Things to do in Sequoia National Parks with kids: DAY 1

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are located about 4 and a half hours’ drive from San Francisco Bay Area. A long weekend will be sufficient to explore everything there is to do in Sequoia National Park with kids plus Kings Canyon. We started our trip on a Saturday morning and we were cognizant that when we arrive to the Sequoia National Park entrance after the drive and a stop for lunch it will be between 2 and 3 pm and it won’t make any sense to go into the Park on the day of arrival for 2 reasons:

1. the vehicles queue to enter Sequoia National Park will be long (in our case it was exactly 1 mile long when we arrived)

2. giant sequoias do not grow at the park entrance, which is at much lower elevations; you have to drive up to them on a winding mountain road which, considering the heavy traffic, may take another 45 minutes to an hour.

Sequoias are best visited early in the morning, right when the Sequoia National Park opens, so we decided to spend the first day exploring the town of Three Rivers, where our base for the trip was.

As the name of the town suggests there are several mountain streams in the area but the major one that runs through town is Kaweah River, fast flowing and full bodied (at least in May when we visited), which a big lure for kids. The hotel that we booked, Buckeye Tree Lodge, has a perfect picturesque location. Just under a mile from the Sequoia National Park entrance, it stands right on the river and every room has a back door that opens directly up to magnificent water views and a picnic area. Our kids loved climbing the huge boulders on the bank of the river, dipping their toes into the stream (it is too cold and the flow is too fast for a swim) and watching the occasional kayakers struggle through the rapids. The hotel also has a tree swing facing the river and a pool which we took a full advantage of.

Another beautiful place to enjoy the river is Slick Rock Recreation Area at the Lake Kaweah (39883 Sierra Dr, Three Rivers, CA 93271). I do not know if the water ever warms up to a comfortable temperature but then again everybody has a different level of comfort so it is worth checking out.

Things to do in Sequoia National Parks with kids: DAY 2

We headed to the Sequoias National Park first thing in the morning on Sunday. When we got to the Giant Forest Museum we parked our car for the day because the Park gets busy very quickly and shuttle is the best mode of transportation inside the park in addition to walking (some of the best hiking trails for kids are located close to the Museum).

First, we stopped at the Museum where we finally figured out the winner in terms of the “biggest tree” on the planet. Sequoias are the fattest but Coastal Redwoods are the tallest 🙂 Here is the “Tallest trees in the world” infographic that I created to help you visualize these giants:

Next, we decided to hike the Big Trees Trail which starts pretty much from the museum. It is 1.3 miles easy loop trail that circles a meadow around which dozens of giants grow. It is doable by even the youngest members of your family (it is stroller friendly too) and it also has another big draw for kids – tons of huge rock formation that can be climbed upon. Potentially, this trail can be completed in half an hour but we spent 2 hours here. We did not want to rush the kids and we let them explore as much as they wanted. It was probably their most favorite thing to do in Sequoia National Park. A couple of things will definitely come handy here: a good binocular and a magnifying glass.

After this adventure we returned to where we started, not far from where our car was parked so it was a good opportunity for lunch. There are no picnic tables in this area so don’t forget a waterproof picnic blanket so you can munch among the sequoias.

After lunch it was time to visit the King of this forest – General Sherman Tree (see photo below).  By volume, it is the largest known living single stem tree on Earth. At 83 meters tall and 32 meters wide it will definitely leave you in awe. The dilemma is how to get there. General Sherman is the biggest tourist draw in Sequoia National Park. I strongly suggest to leave your car where it was parked in the morning because all parking lots will definitely be full my midday. One can potentially walk up there about 2 miles but there is no hiking trail, people walk along the main narrow road where cars and shuttles drive as well and it is rather dangerous with kids.

So your best bet is the Sequoia National Park shuttle. There is a short loop trail that you can hike once you have arrived to General Sherman. Please, note that it will be quite a wait to get back from that location because it is the last shuttle stop before the final stop (at the Museum) on the way back and all shuttles already arrive full with the people who travel from either Lodgepole Visitor’s Center or Wolverton area. One solution may be to travel up to Wolverton, explore a little bit there, and then return (thus you will be among the first people to board the return shuttle).

When we arrived again at the Museum parking area we decided it was time to head back to the hotel for the day. My youngest son just turned three years old back then so he was pretty tired. If you have older kids, another great thing to do in Sequoia National Park with kids is to take a shuttle from the Museum to Morro Rock or Crescent Meadow for further exploration.

Things to do in Sequoia National Parks with kids: DAY 3 – Kings Canyon National Park

It was Monday of the Memorial Day weekend which played hugely to our advantage: most people were on the way home so there was minimal traffic in the direction where we were going – Kings Canyon National Park. This Park is adjacent to the Sequoia National Park so it is easy to do both on the same trip. Visiting Kings Canyon National Park was a totally different experience from the day before. Most of the time you will be in the car driving the scenic route from the top of the canyon down to the river level.

The drive through Kings Canyon National Park has over a dozen stops to enjoy scenic views. Once you get to the river level there will be several stops next to beautiful waterfalls. You can stay as much or as little time at any given stop and there won’t be any problems with finding parking, which may not be true on Saturday or Sunday, but luckily it was Monday and in some places we had all this beauty entirely to ourselves.

There are some hiking trails in Kings Canyon National Park too but we decided to take it easy, follow the drive, sit by the water and relax. Don’t forget to take food and drinks with you for a nice picnic. There are no concession stands at the river level.

Things to do in Sequoia National Parks with kids: DAY 4

We headed home on Tuesday morning, reaching Bay Area at around lunch time and this way we avoided both morning and evening rush hours. It was a wonderful family road trip itinerary and we plan to return here again when kids are a little older so that we can explore more difficult hiking trails which were beyond our limits the first time around.

 

Additional tips for visiting Sequoia National Park with kids

1. May – early June would probably be the ideal time to make this trip because the further you are in the dry season the higher is the likelihood of wild fires. I had to cancel the first trip we planned for the Labor Day weekend because of the fires and move it to Memorial Day weekend the next year. In addition to that, the scenic road in Kings Canyon NP is closed from January to April.
2. Temperatures vary greatly from the entrance to the park to Museum level. It was high 80s F in our hotel vicinity and only middle 60s F where sequoias grow. Also it can rain at high elevations without a hint of a raindrop at the bottom of the mountains (which happened to us but luckily we had all rain gear packed with us in the car)

3. Lodging: I usually choose either Hampton Inn or Best Western hotels for our trips (see my introductory article about lodging) but there was none of those in proximity to the Parks and Buckeye Tree Lodge turned out to be a superb place for our needs. However, I must let you know that it does not have air conditioning so if you can’t live without one this is probably not the place for you.

4. For our boys one book was a great preparation for all trips to national and state parks: The Boys’ Book of Survival: How to Survive Anything, Anywhere. It gives a lot of great instructions regarding survival skills: how to build a shelter, how to catch a fish with bare hands, how to deal with a snake bite and much more

If you found this information about things to do in Sequoia National Park with kids useful, please do me a little favor and share this trip with others, for there’s a good chance that it will help them with their travel plans. 🙂