On our drive up to the park, we drove through Kings Canyon which was an incredible canyon that is just below Sequoia National Park.  We didn’t have time to visit Kings Canyon because we wanted to focus on seeing sequoia trees but it looked liked another interesting place to visit in the future.

I spent three nights camping in Sequoia National Park with my brother and we had an amazing time hiking to all the massive sequoia trees that are around the park.  It is impossible to describe how surreal these 250+ ft tall trees are when you are standing at the base of them trying to see their tops.

I would say that camping is probably the best way to see and experience the park.  Day trips would be nice too but there is something special about camping in a national park.  The camping spot we stayed at in Lodge Pole Campground was close to a park ranger station that had a small park grocery store, museum and showers and good bathrooms near for guests.  We had a fire pit and slept on very soft soil.

The campsites here at Lodge Pole are kind of close together but near the back they offer a little bit more breathing room.

My brother and I went on several hikes while we were there.  We visited one of the tallest trees in the world (General Sherman Tree), visited Moro Rock, Tunnel Tree and even spent some good time at the Giant Forest Museum.

Here you can see just how massive these trees can get.  Just think at how many hundreds and even thousands of years old many of these trees are around the park.

Make sure you check out many of the beautiful meadows.  There are too many to list here but you can find several by the Giant Forest Museum and just east of Tunnel Tree you will find Crescent Meadow.

I highly suggest you visit the General Sherman Tree.  This immense tree is located on a short hike that is on a very wide and clear trail that is about 1/2 mile long.  There are park benches all over the place and there are also stairs.  Overall, almost everyone with every type of skill level will be able to successfully complete this trail.   I remember this area being very peaceful as we meandered around – we only saw a few other people on the trail.

The General Sherman Tree is one of the tallest trees in the world.   It stands at about 275 ft and is estimated to be 2,300-2,700 years old! The tree was named in 1879 after an American Civil War general, William Tecumseh Sherman.  Other trees around the park have Civil War general names such as the General Grant Tree which is about 267 ft tall and estimated to be over 2,000 years old.

We also took time to hike out to Moro Rock which provides a spectacular overlook of the surrounding area.  It is about a 2/3 mile trail that ends up on a granite dome.  There are staircases that are steep and narrow but there are handrails for your support.  Moro Rock is very steep and if you go off the trail you could potentially slip and fall down hundreds of feet.

As you can see, the trail leading up to Moro Rock is very steep and precarious.

Here is the trail leading out on top to Moro Rock.  When we were on the trail there were hundreds of people trying to squeeze by on the narrow trail.  Just be cautious and you will have a safe hike to the dome.  You will gain about 300 feet in elevation in a short distance.

Hiking back down the staircase from Moro Rock.

There are other great trails to hike including the Grant Grove Trail, Buena Vista Peak, Redwood Canyon, North Grove Loop, Crescent Meadow and Tokopah Falls which is a 1,200 foot cascading waterfall.

Here is “The Sentinel” sequoia tree above.

Another giant sequoia tree.  Many of these trails are well maintained and easily hiked.

Near the Moro Rock trailhead, we noticed a burned out sequoia tree in the distance away from all the people and traffic.  We decided to check it out and see just what the tree would look like from the inside.  There was a small hole and I crawled in and took this picture from the inside looking up.  The tree was about 120+ feet tall and the inside was not what I expected!

Make sure you drive your car through Tunnel Tree which was big enough to fit my brothers truck underneath.  It makes for a fun photograph.  Tunnel Tree is a fallen sequoia which was carved to create a road through it.

We saw tons of wild deer and heard reports of bears roaming around.  We never saw a bear but we did see tons of squirrels and chipmunks climbing all over the place.

On our last night in the park we got a good view of the western portion of the national park and I snapped this photo.

If you have extra time I recommend you stop at the museum which has many displays and historical exhibits about the establishment of the park and the early days.

My brother and I reviewed the backcountry hikes but we didn’t have enough time to go on the one we wanted so we just did all the closer day hikes around the park.  We talked with a ranger about the backcountry hikes and he said that there are some amazing places to see and explore.

We also didn’t get a chance to check out the cave but we will definitely be back to see the rest of the park.