California,  Monday walks,  Mountains

In and out of Kings Canyon

February 11, 2025 / 63 Comments

In the vast Sierra wilderness far to the southward of the famous Yosemite Valley, there is a yet grander valley of the same kind. It is situated on the south fork of the Kings River, above the most extensive groves and forests of the giant sequoia, and beneath the shadows of the highest mountains in the range, where the canyons are deepest and the snow-laden peaks are crowded most closely together.

John Muir on Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon National Park consists of two areas. One is Grant Grove, protecting the famous Grant Grove tree and many other giant sequoias. Detached from this to the north, separated from it by large tracts of forest and wilderness, is Kings Canyon itself. Like Yosemite this was carved by a massive Ice Age glacier and shares much of its grandeur. But it is a little harder to reach (though still on a perfectly good road), a little less famous and consequently a lot quieter!

We spent a day exploring the canyon, travelling in and out on that road from our base in Grant Grove Village. We stopped a couple of times on the road to the canyon, once to take photos of some of the mountains looking hazy in the smoke from the Happy Fire, and once for views into the canyon itself. The latter were against the sun, so we resolved to stop again on our way back to try to get better shots.

Happy Fire smoke from the road to Kings Canyon

Looking towards Kings Canyon from Junction View

Waterfalls

There are a couple of more significant stopping points before you re-enter the park and we pulled over at one, where you can walk the short distance to Grizzly Falls. These were impressively full for so late in the season, although some rather pesky flies detracted a little from our enjoyment of the scene, as they were to do at several other places today.

Grizzly Falls

Once we were back inside the national park itself, we stopped again at another set of falls, Roaring River, which lived up to their name! And the walk to and from them was a pleasant stroll among the trees.

Roaring River Falls

Zumwalt Meadow walk

At our next stop we did a rather longer walk, to Zumwalt Meadow. The path led initially again among trees before emerging by the river. We crossed via a bridge with good views in both directions, and went down to the river’s edge for photos.

On the way to Zumwalt Meadow

Continuing our walk we discovered that the trail through the meadow, which we’d planned on following, was closed for restoration. But we were able to take another path that led us up between large boulders with glimpses of the meadow between them.

Glimpses of Zumwalt Meadow, and the path we followed

It was quite a rough and stony path however, so after a few hundred metres more we decided to turn back as we seemed to be veering away from the meadow.

Muir Rock

We returned to the car by the same path and drove the last mile or so to the end of the road. We visited Muir Rock, named for the Scottish-American naturalist John Muir who is considered the inspiration behind the US national parks system. According to the park’s website,

From this rock overlooking a relatively quiet bend of the Kings River, he would address anyone who would listen. He shared his love of the wild and his theories on how these canyons formed (carved by large rivers of ice called glaciers, which later proved to be correct). These talks and the articles he wrote celebrating the area helped lead to its becoming a national park.

The view from the top of Muir Rock

Having enjoyed the river views from the rock we had our snack lunch at a picnic table nearby. From here the only way was back on the same road! We stopped at a couple of different viewpoints, including Canyon View, and again at Junction View to get the better lit shots we’d hoped for when here earlier in the day.

Canyon View of Kings Canyon
Junction View of Kings Canyon (the road in and out of the canyon is on the right)

We also stopped at the Crystal Cave, which lies outside the park boundary and is operated by a private concession. I was keen to visit but you have to do so on a guided tour. We’d just missed one and it would be a two hour wait until the next, so we decided to forgo it and instead returned to Grant Grove Village to console ourselves with ice creams!

Despite the choice of those over cake, I hope Jo will find these walks an appropriate contribution to her Monday Walks.

I visited Kings Canyon in October 2024

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