Kings Canyon National Park is managed with Sequoia National Park so it’s easy to think these two parks will be similar. While they both have some of the largest trees in the world, Kings Canyon also contains dramatic mountain views, waterfalls, meadows, and one of my favorite drives in a national park.
In this guide, I’m going to cover the best things to do at Kings Canyon National Park so you can plan your perfect visit.
Things to Do at Kings Canyon National Park
This is not a comprehensive list of everything you can see at Kings Canyon National Park, but rather what I think are the best sights. If you’re visiting for the first time, these are the places where you’ll want to focus your time.
General Grant Tree
I’m starting this list off not with the top sight, but rather the easiest thing to do at Kings Canyon National Park.
Sequoia National Park has General Sherman Tree which is the largest tree in the world by volume. Kings Canyon National Park has the General Grant Tree which is the world’s second largest tree by volume. Admittedly, “second largest” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it that “world’s largest” does, but the tree is still impressive.
There are pathways leading around the tree so you can circle it entirely. I’d say “take it in from every angle”, but honestly, it’s a tree. The tree is cool and the area around it is nice, but it’s still a tree and there’s only so much hype I can give it.
My advice is to make General Grant Tree one of your first stops of the day. This is what my mom and I did on our trip and we had the tree nearly all to ourselves. There may have been another five cars total in the parking lot. Compare that to the day before at General Sherman Tree at 1:00 pm and there were so many people.
Panoramic Point
Panoramic Point is a short walk to a spectacular viewpoint and its one of my favorite things to do at Kings Canyon. You’ll also be able to see the mountains, Hume Lake, plenty of trees, and so much more. From the parking lot, you’ll walk about 0.6 miles round trip to get to the viewpoint. Just as a note, the viewpoint is higher than the parking lot, so you’ll be walking uphill. This isn’t a huge deal as my tracker logged about 90 feet of elevation gain, but I just want to mention it.
Now I do have to mention that the road to get to Panoramic Point is an adventure in itself. The road is narrow. Very narrow. So narrow that it feels like a one way, one lane road. However, it’s a two way road, but it’s not quite big enough for two vehicles. This means that occasionally one person will need to reverse and wait for another car to come through. Oh, and did I mention there were some hairpin turns?
This was by far the sketchiest road that I drove on my California road trip. That’s not to scare you, but rather to warn you. Through most of the park, you’ll be driving on normal (but windy) mountain roads and there’s not much to it. But here, the drive was an adventure and I was not quite ready for it. I obviously did drive it and it was fine, but I do wish I had had a warning before I drove it.
And not only was it a windy, narrow road, but I also passed four deer. For me, deer are not a big thing as they are all over my home state of Wisconsin, but other drivers were fascinated and seemed more concerned with getting a photo of the deer than paying attention to the rest of the road. Don’t be like these people and pay attention to all of your surroundings.
Zumwalt Meadows
The mountain views through Kings Canyon National Park are fantastic and were my favorite part of my visit to the park. However, nestled between the mountains, near the end of the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway is Zumwalt Meadows. This offers a nice hiking opportunity that has little elevation but still offers nice views, both of the meadows and peeks of the surrounding canyon.
Before you visit Kings Canyon, take a look to see what the status of Zumwalt Meadows is. During my visit, only part of the meadow was open as there was some restoration going work going on. That said, we were still able to hike part of the meadows.
There is a loop going through the meadows, but as mentioned part of this was closed during my visit, so if you wanted to hike, you may need to do an out and back hike.
My mom and I hiked at Zumwalt Meadows, but instead of just focusing on the meadows (that were partially closed), we started our hike at Roaring Rapids (mentioned later). We hiked along the trail into Zumwalt Meadows before turning around and hiking back. On this hike, we logged 4.45 miles and 374 feet of elevation gain.
Now with all that said, I have to give a warning. We were here in mid September and while the weather was beautiful, the gnats were horrendous. We had covered ourselves with bug spray and nothing landed on us, but they swarmed around us for most of the hike and would not leave us alone. The only saving grace was the wind picked up on our return hike and then we didn’t have problems.
I have to mention this because this hike was nice, but it was hard to enjoy because we were constantly swatting at the gnats. And to be clear, we knew that the gnats were bad based on reviews from AllTrails, but until we got there, we didn’t truly understand how awful they could be.
Roaring Rapids
Roaring Rapids is a waterfall that makes a quick stop, but in my opinion, it’s a worthwhile stop. As you work your way to the end of the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway, the mountain views are behind you and you’ll be going through more trees and forests again. So, the stop at Roaring Rapids makes a great place to take a break.
You could just stop here for the waterfall, but if you want to get out and hike, visit Roaring Rapids and then hike to Zumwalt Meadows. That’s what we did and with the exception of the gnats (mentioned earlier), it was a nice hike. And yes, the gnats were also hanging out at Roaring Rapids as well.
Viewpoints Along the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway
The scenic drive through Kings Canyon is a must on your visit to the park. In fact, I think this drive might have been my favorite thing to do at Kings Canyon National Park. The views are just incredible. So while of course you could drive without any stops, pull over at a few of the viewpoints. There are plenty of viewpoints to choose along the way and I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them. Junction View and Yucca Point make excellent places to stop, but I’m not sure if there is a bad view.
If you, or someone you’re traveling with, hasn’t spent a lot of time in mountains, prepare for some jaw dropping views. We rounded a bend and my mom, who has visited many national parks with me but hasn’t really done “mountains”, exclaimed “Oh my god. Oh my god! Oh! My! God!” It was a fun experience for me, but also a reminder that the views are just that good.
To drive the entire length of the Kings Canyon Scenic Drive, you’ll want to give yourself about two hours. Even with minimal stops, it will take you about an hour to drive from Grant Grove to the end of the road. And yes, the road does have a firm ending point where you’ll have to turn around and drive back the way you came.
Bonus
While this was a list of the top things to do at Kings Canyon National Park, I have three additional items that I want to mention.
Scenic Overlook at Hume Lake
Admittedly this one isn’t technically in Kings Canyon National Park. It’s in Sequoia National Forest which sits adjacent to Kings Canyon National Park. However, you get to it by taking a turn off of the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway, so I’m including it on this list.
If you’re willing to add an extra twenty minutes of driving, head to Hume Lake Overlook. Yes, you could take this road all the way to Hume Lake, but honestly, I really enjoyed the view from this overlook.
A word of warning though. If you’re following Google Maps to the overlook, just note that the parking area is on a curve. Specifically, it’s on a blind curve so be careful as you’re pulling into the lot. I say this as someone who put on my turn signal, started to pull in, and then almost hit a park ranger who was coming around the curve in the other direction (since I couldn’t see him because of a blind curve). So, be careful.
Big Stump
While most of the trees at Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks stand tall, there was a time that this area was used for mining and trees were cut down for their wood. Now, of course, this area is protected and no one is chopping down the trees.
But, a few of those stumps from those logging days remain and the most notable is at Big Stump. Take the trail out to the stump to really get a scale for how massive these trees are.
Trails in Grant Grove
My mom and I had plans to come back and hike in Grant Grove, but they never materialized. But there are plenty of trails in this area of the park, so I have to include this as a bonus item. Start at the General Grant Tree and then weave your way through a forest of sequoia trees.
How Long Do You Need at Kings Canyon National Park
I recommend giving yourself one full day. That allows you time to visit all of the top things to do at Kings Canyon without feeling rushed and it accounts for your driving time to get to and from your hotel.
If you have more than one day, I recommend spending your second day exploring Sequoia National Park.
When to Visit Kings Canyon National Park
While you can technically visit Kings Canyon National Park all year round, some months are significantly better than others.
Summer is peak travel season where you can expect the highest prices and the highest visitor numbers.
Winter is low season and for good reason. The big scenic drive through Kings Canyon (in my opinion, the best part of Kings Canyon), closes.
Spring and fall are shoulder season which can offer a nice balance of crowds and weather. Keep in mind in early fall, you may need to watch out for wildfires. On our visit, wildfires closed one area of the adjacent Sequoia National Park, but it was not an area we had planned to visit. The wildfires didn’t affect us (apart from minimal haze), but that’s no guarantee.
My mom and I visited Kings Canyon National Park in mid September. We had excellent weather despite reports of haze from nearby wildfires (there was a bit of haze, but honestly, the wildfire haze I had up in Glacier National Park earlier that summer was worse). I can honestly say that my visit to Kings Canyon National Park never felt busy or crowded. We did experience a bit of crowds at Sequoia National Park the day before, but at Kings Canyon, we had no problems.
Current Conditions at Kings Canyon National Park
Whether you’re traveling during wildfire season or just want an idea of what to expect weather wise, check out the Current Conditions on the NPS website. This is especially great because weather can vary throughout the park. Additionally since many of the top sights are at higher elevations, you’ll likely have different weather than at your hotel.
Where to Stay on Your Visit to Kings Canyon National Park
You have several options for accommodations for your visit to Kings Canyon National Park. My advice is to first consider your itinerary. Are you just spending one day doing both Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park? If so, then I recommend staying close to park, ideally near where you’ll exit the park. If you start at Kings Canyon and finish at Sequoia, the towns of Three Rivers and Visalia would be good options.
We chose to stay in Dinuba which was about an hour drive from both the Sequoia National Park entrance and the Kings Canyon National Park entrance. Since we had plans to enter through both entrances, it made sense to find somewhere that was more “in the middle”. Plus, Dinuba was a bit more of a budget option than Three Rivers or Visalia.
Entrance Fees for Kings Canyon National Park
Entrance into Kings Canyon National Park is $35 per vehicle. Your pass will be good for seven consecutive days and will also include entrance into Sequoia National Park.
Annual passes, such as the America the Beautiful pass, are also accepted. If you plan on visiting two or more national parks within twelve months of your visit to Sequoia National Park, it’s worth it to pick up the $80 pass.
Sequoia National Park
Kings Canyon National Park is managed with Sequoia National Park. The lines can feel a little blurry between the two parks, especially since you could reasonably visit both parks in one day. If you’re short on time, go ahead and visit both parks, but note that you won’t be able to do everything on this list, or on my top 5 of Sequoia National Park.
Final Thoughts
It’s so easy to think that Kings Canyon National Park will be just like Sequoia National Park. While there are some similarities, Kings Canyon has much more dramatic views and therefore, I rank it higher than Sequoia National Park. My point being, don’t overlook this park and think just because you went to Sequoia National Park, you’ve also visited Kings Canyon National Park. There are so many great things to explore at Kings Canyon and it definitely deserves a spot on your itinerary.
Continue Your Adventure
California National Park Itineraries: Loop Sequoia National Park in with Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Parks for one awesome week long road trip. Alternatively you could fly into Las Vegas and visit Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks on a week long road trip.
Sequoia National Park: Kings Canyon National Park is managed in conjunction with Sequoia National Park which also has a fun list of things to do.
Yosemite National Park: Just a short drive north of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is Yosemite National Park. Whether you’re hiking, taking in the viewpoints, or climbing Half Dome, you’ll find plenty of awesome things to do at Yosemite National Park.
US National Parks: Start planning your national park vacation with my US National Park Travel Guide. You’ll find information about each park, photos, itineraries, and everything you need to start planning your trip.