Kings canyon National Park

Trees, trees, and more trees!

From Joshua Tree National Park we drove straight through to Kings Canyon National Park.

There are no words that can describe the beauty of the sequoias so I won’t even try.

Things I learned:
Despite what I had read, you do need reservations to camp in most of the park. Luckily, I found that out just in time to snag 4 nights.

Bear lockers are big enough to store a ton of food.

Fire restrictions were different in different areas, and we were able to have a fire inside our fire ring.

Besides the viewing the majestic trees we also swam in Hume Lake.

We picnicked by Grizzly Falls.

Finally, we drove down to Kings River where we entered a magnificent realm of epic mountain views  and a magical river that will make every difficulty in your life worth suffering through just to arrive at the moment you get to dip your toe into its roaring waters.

Watch out for bears! This area is considered bear active. We did not see any bears, but we definitely think we heard them in the middle of the night! We did see bear scratches on trees. 

We also saw a sweet deer nibbling a bush within our campsite; adorable chipmunks chasing each other up and down the trees; bossy ravens; insistent ducks; a soaring bald eagle; zipping lizards; lazy swallowtails; little blue dragonflies; and an inquisitive grey squirrel.

What is really unique about the area we were in was the absolute silence at night. Once the sun goes down and the stars come out, the forest turns off. No crickets chirping or owls hooting. It was a little eerie, but it made for a great night’s sleep.

The breathtaking beauty of Kings Canyon National Park makes it worth the drive. I am already planning my trip back.