Kings Canyon, California
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kings Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
, in
Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and renamed on March 4, 1940. The park's namesake, Kings Canyon, is a rugged
glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
-carved valley more than a mile (1,600 m) deep. Other natural features include multiple peaks, high mountain meadows, swift-flowing rivers, and some of the world's largest stands of
giant sequoia ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood, Sierra redwood or Wellingtonia) is a species of coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the la ...
trees. Kings Canyon is north of and contiguous with
Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and toda ...
, and both parks are jointly administered by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
as the
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks The Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is the consolidated management structure for Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park in California. Both parks have been jointly administered since 1943. They have a combined size of . It ...
. The majority of the park, drained by the
Middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...
and South Forks of the Kings River and many smaller streams, is designated
wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...
. Tourist facilities are concentrated in two areas: Grant Grove, home to General Grant (the second largest tree in the world, measured by trunk volume) and Cedar Grove, located in the heart of Kings Canyon. Overnight hiking is required to access most of the park's backcountry, or high country, which for much of the year is covered in deep snow. The combined
Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...
/
John Muir Trail The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, Kings Canyon National Park, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, Se ...
, a
backpacking Backpacking may refer to: * Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel * Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness * Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...
route, traverses the entire length of the park from north to south. General Grant National Park was initially created to protect a small area of giant sequoias from
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksJohn Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...
's visits brought public attention to the huge wilderness area to the east, it took more than fifty years for the rest of Kings Canyon to be designated a national park. Environmental groups, park visitors and many local politicians wanted to see the area preserved; however, development interests wanted to build
hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
s in the canyon. Even after President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
expanded the park in 1940, the fight continued until 1965, when the Cedar Grove and
Tehipite Valley Tehipite Valley, a glacial valley of the Middle Fork Kings River, is located in Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada of California. The valley is in Fresno County about southwest of Bishop and east of Fresno and is known for its Yose ...
dam sites were finally annexed into the park. As visitation rose post–
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, further debate took place over whether the park should be developed as a tourist resort, or retained as a more natural environment restricted to simpler recreation such as hiking and camping. Ultimately, the preservation lobby prevailed and today, the park has only limited services and lodgings despite its size. Due to this and the lack of road access to most of the park, Kings Canyon remains the least visited of the major Sierra parks, with just under 700,000 visitors in 2017 compared to 1.3 million visitors at Sequoia and over 4 million at
Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...
.


Geography and natural history

Kings Canyon National Park, located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada to the east of the
San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...
, is divided into two distinct sections. The smaller and older western section centers around Grant Grove – home of many of the park's sequoias – and has most of the visitor facilities. The larger eastern section, which accounts for the majority of the park's area, is almost entirely wilderness, and contains the deep canyons of the Middle and South Forks of the Kings River. Cedar Grove, located at the bottom of the Kings Canyon, is the only part of the park's vast eastern portion accessible by road (via Highway 180). Although most of the park is forested, much of the eastern section consists of alpine regions above the
tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...
. Usually snow-free only from late June until late October, the high country is accessible solely via foot and horse trails. The Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness encompasses over in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, or nearly 90 percent of their combined area. In addition to Sequoia National Park on the south, Kings Canyon is surrounded by multiple national forests and wilderness areas. The
Sierra National Forest Sierra National Forest is a U.S. national forest located on the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada in California, bounded on the northwest by Yosemite National Park and on the south by Kings Canyon National Park. The forest is known for ...
,
Sequoia National Forest Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees which populate 38 distinct groves within the boun ...
and
Inyo National Forest Inyo National Forest is a United States National Forest covering parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. The forest hosts several superlatives, including Mount Whitney, the highest p ...
border it on the northwest, west and east, respectively. The
John Muir Wilderness The John Muir Wilderness is a wilderness area that extends along the crest of the Sierra Nevada of California for , in the Inyo National Forest, Inyo and Sierra National Forests. Established in 1964 by the Wilderness Act and named for naturalist ...
wraps around much of the northern half of the park, and the Monarch Wilderness preserves much of the area between the park's two sections.


Mountains and valleys

Kings Canyon is characterized by some of the steepest vertical relief in North America, with numerous peaks over on the
Sierra Crest The Sierra Crest is a roughly generally north-to-south ridge, ridgeline that demarcates the broad west and narrow east slopes of the Sierra Nevada and that extends as far east as the Sierra's escarpment, topographic front (e.g., Diamond Mountain ...
along the park's eastern border, falling to in the valley floor of Cedar Grove just to the west. The Sierran crest forms the eastern boundary of the park, from Mount Goethe in the north, down to
Junction Peak Junction Peak is a thirteener in the Sierra Nevada. Joseph Nisbet LeConte chose this name in 1896, noting that it marks the point where the Sierra Crest crosses the water divide of the Kern and Kings rivers. Today it also is the boundary betwe ...
, at the boundary with Sequoia National Park. Several passes cross the crest into the park, including Bishop Pass, Taboose Pass, Sawmill Pass, and Kearsarge Pass. All of these passes are above in elevation. There are several prominent subranges of the Sierra within and around the park. The Palisades, along the park's eastern boundary, have four peaks over including the highest point in the park, at the summit of
North Palisade North Palisade is the third-highest mountain in the Sierra Nevada range of California, and one of the state's small number of peaks over 14,000 feet, known as fourteeners. It is the highest peak of the Palisades group of peaks in the central pa ...
. The
Great Western Divide The Great Western Divide is a Sierra Nevada mountain range located largely in Sequoia National Park. Some of the summits of the Great Western Divide reach well over . The High Sierra Trail crosses the range at Kaweah Gap from Sequoia National Pa ...
extends through the south-central part of the park and also has many peaks over , including
Mount Brewer Mount Brewer is on the Great Western Divide, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada in California. It is located in Kings Canyon National Park, The peak was named for William Henry Brewer who worked on the first California Geological Survey and wa ...
. The Monarch Divide, stretching between the lower Middle and South Forks of the Kings, has some of the most inaccessible terrain in the entire park. In the northwest section of the park are other very steep and rugged ranges such as the Goddard Divide, LeConte Divide and Black Divide, all of which are dotted with high mountain lakes and separated by deep chasms. Most of the mountains and canyons, as in other parts of the Sierra Nevada, are formed in igneous intrusive rocks such as
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
,
diorite Diorite ( ) is an intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma (molten rock) that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is Intermediate composition, inter ...
and
monzonite Monzonite is an igneous intrusive rock, formed by slow cooling of underground magma that has a moderate silica content and is enriched in alkali metal oxides. Monzonite is composed mostly of plagioclase and alkali feldspar. Syenodiorite is an ...
, formed at least 100 million years ago due to
subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...
along the
North American North America is a continent in the Northern and Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the sou ...
– Pacific Plate boundary. However, the Sierra itself is a young mountain range, no more than 10 million years old. Huge tectonic forces along the western edge of the
Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...
forced the local crustal block to tilt and uplift, creating the mountains' gradual slope to the west and the nearly vertical escarpment to the east bordering the
Owens Valley Owens Valley (Mono language (California), Mono: ''PayahÇ–Ç–nadÇ–'', meaning "place of flowing water") is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra ...
. Many cave systems are also formed in the rock layers, including
Boyden Cave Boyden Cavern is a show cave located in Giant Sequoia National Monument, the Giant Sequoia National Monument of the Sequoia National Forest, along the California State Route 180, Kings Canyon Scenic Byway in Fresno County, California, Fresno Coun ...
along the South Fork of the Kings River.


Glacial features

The present shape of the high country was largely sculpted by glaciations during successive
Ice Ages An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and Gre ...
over the last 2.5 million years. Large
valley glacier Glacier morphology, or the form a glacier takes, is influenced by temperature, precipitation, topography, and other factors. The goal of glacial morphology is to gain a better understanding of glaciated landscapes and the way they are shaped. T ...
s moved as far as down the South and Middle Forks of the Kings River, carving out the distinctive deep U-shaped valleys at Cedar Grove and Paradise Valley on the South Fork, and
Tehipite Valley Tehipite Valley, a glacial valley of the Middle Fork Kings River, is located in Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada of California. The valley is in Fresno County about southwest of Bishop and east of Fresno and is known for its Yose ...
on the Middle Fork. Ice Age glaciations did not extend all the way to the confluence of the Middle and South Forks; consequently, the canyons downstream of Cedar Grove and Tehipite are typical V-shaped river gorges, in contrast to the U-shaped valleys upstream. The glacial valleys are characterized by flat floors and exposed granite cliffs and domes many thousands of feet high, similar in form to the more famous
Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, United States. The valley is about long a ...
to the north, and in fact the term "yosemite" was used in the 19th century by
John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...
to describe these valleys before they were widely known by their own names. In ''A Rival of the Yosemite'', published in 1891 in ''The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine'', Muir wrote of Kings Canyon: Other significant glacial features include Tehipite Dome, the largest granite dome in the Sierra, rising above the floor of Tehipite Valley. In Kings Canyon and across the high country, such sheer granite cliffs are subject to exfoliation,
frost weathering Frost weathering is a collective term for several mechanical weathering processes induced by stresses created by the freezing of water into ice. The term serves as an umbrella term for a variety of processes, such as frost shattering, frost w ...
and earthquakes which cause sudden and dramatic rockfalls. Over thousands of years, cliff collapses have built up large talus piles or scree slopes at their bases along almost every glacial valley in the park. Zumwalt Meadow, one of the few large areas of flat land in the park, was formed by the accumulation of sediment behind the
terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called an end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front e ...
of a retreating glacier. In Kings Canyon there are in fact four such moraines, which the Kings River cascades over, forming whitewater rapids, in an area where it otherwise winds calmly across meadows. The series of moraines one behind the other are termed "nested moraines", each created during a different glacial period by glaciers of varying length. Elsewhere in the high country, the landscape of bare rock and talus left by former glaciers is replete with
hanging valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ve ...
s, waterfalls, serrated ridges (
arête An arête ( ; ) is a narrow ridge of rock that separates two valleys. It is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode headwards towards one another, although frequ ...
s),
cirque A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...
s, and hundreds of alpine tarns. Some of the highest peaks retain permanent snowfields and even glaciers.
Palisade Glacier The Palisade Glacier is a glacier located on the northeast side of the Palisades (California Sierra), Palisades within the John Muir Wilderness in the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of California. The glacier descends from the flanks ...
, the largest in the Sierra, is located near the park's edge in the John Muir Wilderness. These glaciers are not holdovers from the Ice Ages; rather, they were most likely formed during cold periods in the last 1,000 years. The park's glaciers are now melting rapidly due to increased temperatures, and may disappear completely within a few decades.


Watersheds

A number of major Sierra rivers have their origins in the park. The
South Fork Kings River The South Fork Kings River is a tributary of the Kings River in the Sierra Nevada of Fresno County, California. The river forms part of Kings Canyon, the namesake of Kings Canyon National Park and one of the deepest canyons in North America wi ...
flows from near Taboose Pass, on the park's eastern boundary, and drains much of the southern half of the park, carving the canyon from which the park takes its name. The Middle Fork Kings River originates near Mount Powell and drains most of the park's northern half. A smaller section in the northern tip of the park is drained by the South Fork of the
San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River ( ; ) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francis ...
. The Kings River falls more than from the Sierra crest to
Pine Flat Reservoir Pine Flat Lake is an artificial lake or reservoir in the Sierra Nevada foothills of eastern Fresno County, California on the western north-south border to the Sierra- and Sequoia National Forests, about east of Fresno. The lake is managed by the ...
in the
San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...
– the longest undammed drop of any North American river. Most of the park's borders are formed by watershed divides between river basins. The eastern boundary follows the Sierra Crest, which to the east is drained by the
Owens River The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 17, 2011, It drains into and through the ...
, part of the Great Basin watershed. The southern boundary with Sequoia National Park is the divide between the Kings, Kaweah and
Kern River The Kern River is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between ...
s. Part of the western boundary follows the divide between the Middle and North Forks of the Kings River. The forks of the Kings River converge in the Sequoia National Forest, a few miles outside the western boundary of the park, to form the
main stem In hydrology, a main stem or mainstem (also known as a trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". The mainstem extends all the way from one specific headwater to the outlet of the river, although t ...
of the river. Here, the river forms one of the deepest canyons in North America, its walls rising as much as from river to rim – about half a mile (0.8 km) deeper than the
Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...
. The canyons upstream at Cedar Grove are also more than deep. Although the geology and topography of Cedar Grove and Tehipite Valley are similar to that of Yosemite Valley, the park does not have
waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...
s as high and spectacular as those in Yosemite. There are several powerful but short waterfalls including Mist Falls, Roaring River Falls and Grizzly Falls in the Cedar Grove area. The backcountry is home to some much higher falls. Silver Spray Falls in Tehipite Valley drops about in several tiers. In a 1910 article in ''Out West'', Ernestine Winchell describes the falls and Tehipite Valley: Both the Kings and San Joaquin Rivers flow west into the arid
San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...
; however, while the San Joaquin eventually empties into
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
, the Kings ends in the terminal sink of
Tulare Lake Tulare Lake () or Tache Lake ( Yokuts: ''Pah-áh-su'', ''Pah-áh-sē'') is a freshwater lake in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California, United States. Historically, Tulare Lake was once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi R ...
, which – before its waters were diverted for irrigation – was one of the largest freshwater lakes in the western United States. The seasonal rise and fall of the park's rivers is driven by heavy snowfall (typically between November and April) followed by a rapid melt during May and June. Runoff drops significantly by late July (or August in wet years), and rivers are usually a trickle by autumn. Snow accumulations in the higher areas of Kings Canyon National Park can be extremely large, often totaling in the hundreds of inches, although the annual snowpack fluctuates greatly between wet and dry years.


Climate

According to the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, most of Kings Canyon National Park has a
warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...
(''Csb''). with only the lowest of elevations having a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (''Csa''). According to the
United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...
, the Plant
Hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
at Cedar Grove Visitor Center at elevation is 8a with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of .


Plants and wildlife

Over 1,200 species of plants occur in Kings Canyon and Sequoia Parks, representing about 20 percent of all plant species in the state. In 1976, Kings Canyon was designated by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
as part of the Sequoia-Kings Canyon
Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
. Due to the large range in elevation, the park is characterized by several major plant communities. At lower elevations the park touches the fairly dry Sierra foothill zone which mostly consists of
chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...
, brush and shrubs. Oaks, sycamores, willows and various hardwoods are often found along streams and springs at lower elevations. At middle elevations, most of the park consists of montane mixed-conifer forests:
ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...
,
incense cedar ''Calocedrus'', the incense cedar (alternatively spelled incense-cedar), is a genus of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae first described as a genus in 1873. Three species are native to eastern Asia and one to western North Ame ...
,
white fir ''Abies concolor'', the white fir, concolor fir, or Colorado fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and southern Rocky Mountains, and int ...
,
sugar pine ''Pinus lambertiana'' (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree and has the longest Conifer cone, cones of any conifer. It is native to coastal and inland mountain areas along the Pacific coa ...
and scattered groves of giant sequoias prevail in areas such as Cedar Grove and the mid-elevation slopes around Grant Grove. In Kings Canyon, which runs almost due east to west, there is a marked difference between the north wall – which is hotter and drier due to receiving more sunlight – and the more cool, shaded south wall which is more heavily forested. Further up, approaching the
subalpine zone Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...
,
red fir ''Abies magnifica'', the red fir or silvertip fir, is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of southwest Oregon and California in the United States. It is a high-elevation tree, typically occurring at elevation, though only rarel ...
and
lodgepole pine ''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpin ...
are found in increasing numbers;
whitebark pine ''Pinus albicaulis'', known by the common names whitebark pine, white bark pine, white pine, pitch pine, scrub pine, and creeping pine, is a conifer tree native to the mountains of the western United States and Canada, specifically subalpine ...
,
mountain hemlock ''Tsuga mertensiana'', known as mountain hemlock, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, found between Southcentral Alaska and south-central California. Description ''Tsuga mertensiana'' is a large evergreen conifer ...
and
foxtail pine ''Pinus balfouriana'', the foxtail pine, is a rare high-elevation pine that is endemic to California, United States. It is closely related to the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain bristlecone pines, in the subsection ''Balfourianae''. Descriptio ...
dominate in areas approaching the
tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...
. A total of of
old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...
s are shared by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Although its sister park to the south, Sequoia, is better known for its
giant sequoia ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood, Sierra redwood or Wellingtonia) is a species of coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the la ...
s, Kings Canyon also has large stands of sequoias – including General Grant, the second largest tree on Earth, in the middle of General Grant Grove. The Redwood Mountain Grove, located a short distance further south, is the largest surviving sequoia grove in the world, covering more than ; it also has the tallest known sequoia, at . The Converse Basin Grove, located just outside the park boundary, is believed to have once been more than twice as large, but was almost completely
clear-cut Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of for ...
in the late 1800s. Many of the sequoia groves destroyed by logging, such as the Big Stump Grove, have begun to regenerate, a process that will take many hundreds of years. The forests provide habitat to many mammal species such as mule deer,
Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep The Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis sierrae'') is subspecies of bighorn sheep unique to the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. A 2016 genetics study confirmed significant divergence between the three subspecies of North America ...
, mountain lions and black bears, and a diversity of bird and reptile species. The Park Service is involved in restoring the population of bighorn sheep, which are considered endangered in the area; in 2014 several bighorns were released into the Sequoia-Kings Canyon area. Grizzly bears originally roamed the park as well, but were hunted to extinction by the early 1900s. The forks of the Kings River at these middle and lower elevations are also well known for their wild trout; the Kings is known as "one of the finest large trout fisheries in the state". In the high alpine country, plant communities are mostly meadows, herbs and shrubs with some scattered groves of foxtail pine and stunted whitebark pine. Trees often create
krummholtz ''Krummholz'' (, "crooked, bent, twisted" and ''Holz'', "wood") — also called ''knieholz'' ("knee timber") — is a type of stunted, deformed vegetation encountered in the subarctic and subalpine tree line landscapes, shaped by continual e ...
formations, or a stunted, deformed growth pattern characterized by branches closely hugging the ground. Talus slopes are home to small mammals such as
pika A pika ( , or ) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal native to Asia and North America. With short limbs, a very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative the rabbit, but with short, rounded ears. ...
s and
yellow-bellied marmot The yellow-bellied marmot (''Marmota flaviventer''), also known as the rock chuck, is a large, stout-bodied ground squirrel in the marmot genus. It is one of fourteen species of marmots, and is native to mountainous and semi-arid regions of south ...
s. Birds such as gray-crowned rosy finches and American pipits, and sensitive amphibian species such as
mountain yellow-legged frog The mountain yellow-legged frog (''Rana muscosa''), also known as the southern mountain yellow-legged frog, is a species of true frog endemic to California in the United States. It occurs in the San Jacinto Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, a ...
s and
Yosemite toad The Yosemite toad (''Anaxyrus canorus'', formerly ''Bufo canorus'') is a species of true toad in the family Bufonidae. Endemic to the Sierra Nevada of California, the species ranges from the Alpine County to Fresno County. Yosemite toads are only ...
s, feed on insects near alpine lakes and wetlands. Larger animals such as bears may venture into the alpine zone in search of food (a behavior now exacerbated by improper disposal of waste by campers), but do not winter there.


Human impacts and management

Although most of the park is now designated wilderness, human activities have significantly modified the ecology of the area ever since Native American times. In order to clear areas for hunting game and to encourage the germination of certain plants, Native Americans set
controlled burn A controlled burn or prescribed burn (Rx burn) is the practice of intentionally setting a fire to change the assemblage of vegetation and decaying material in a landscape. The purpose could be for forest management, ecological restoration, ...
s in areas of overgrown brush and grass. During the early 20th century, " "complete fire suppression" policy led to a great build-up of debris and tinder in the park's forests. By the 1960s it became apparent that this was interfering with the reproductive cycle of the park's sequoias, whose bark is fire resistant but require regular fires to clear away competing growth such as white firs. In 1963, scientists deliberately set fire to part of the Redwood Mountain Grove, the first fire in any of the park's sequoia groves for 75 years. Thousands of new sequoia seedlings germinated. The success of the experiment led to the establishment of the park's first long-term prescribed burn program in 1972. A major source of damage to the park in the late 19th century and early 20th century was summer livestock grazing, particularly sheep, in areas such as Tehipite Valley and the Roaring River valley (although sheep never entered Cedar Grove, due to the difficulty of accessing the bottom of Kings Canyon before Highway 180 was constructed). Ranchers drove their herds up into the Sierra Nevada to escape the drought and heat of the San Joaquin Valley. Meadows were trampled by thousands of hooves, leading to increased erosion and watershed degradation. Grizzly bears and wolves which preyed on livestock were shot, trapped and poisoned in large numbers, extirpating them from the Sierra by the early 1900s. Although the Sierra Forest Reserve, including what would become Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, was established in 1893, as many as half a million sheep were illegally grazed there. In 1917 the federal government began to crack down on illegal grazing and established a system of regulated management and range restoration, before sheep were banned from Kings Canyon altogether following the park's creation in 1940. Livestock grazing is still allowed in some national forest lands around the park. Occasionally hikers may come across gated
drift fence A drift fence is any long, continuous fence used to control the movement of animals in a particular open range, or to collect animals for research. Use Drift fences were used in the Texas Panhandle from 1882 to 1887 to control "cattle drift"— ...
s in the wilderness designed to control livestock movement. Visitors must close all gates behind them to prevent livestock from wandering into protected areas. The decline of natural predators in the early 1900s led to a huge spike in the deer population, which further rose due to park visitors feeding them. Ultimately, this led to
overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...
and the vegetation understory was nearly eliminated in large areas of the park. When the park was expanded in 1940, the Park Service began shooting deer in an effort to reduce the size of the herd. Although the culling reduced deer numbers to a more ecologically stable level, the program was criticized for its reliance on brute force rather than more "hands-off" methods, such as re-introducing predators. Today, the only stock allowed in the park are pack horses and mules, which are only permitted in certain areas along major trails, and usually not early in the season in order to protect meadows in the spring while they are wet and soft. The park continues to host a healthy population of black bears, which are typically not aggressive towards humans, but have a tendency to steal human food. The Park Service has placed bear lockers in campgrounds, required the use of bear canisters and attempted to relocate bears away from heavily visited areas. This has been successful in the backcountry, where bears have largely ceased to associate backpackers with food, but remains an issue near developed campgrounds. Visitors are encouraged to store all food and scented items in lockers, and dispose of trash in bearproof garbage cans. However, rangers are still sometimes forced to kill "problem bears" who become habituated to human food.


Human history


Indigenous peoples

People have inhabited Kings Canyon National Park for about 6,000–7,000 years. The
Owens Valley Owens Valley (Mono language (California), Mono: ''PayahÇ–Ç–nadÇ–'', meaning "place of flowing water") is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra ...
Paiutes (also known as the Eastern Monos) visited the region from their homeland east of the Sierra Nevada, around Mono Lake. The Paiutes mainly used acorns for food, as well as deer and other small animals. They created trade routes connecting the Owens Valley with the Central Valley west of the Sierra Nevada. The
Yokuts The Yokuts (previously known as MariposasPowell, 1891:90–91.) are an ethnic group of Native Americans native to central California. Before European contact, the Yokuts consisted of up to 60 tribes speaking several related languages. Yokuts ...
lived in the Central Valley and also ventured into the mountains during summer to collect plants, hunt game, and trade. Because of the inhospitable winter climate, they did not establish permanent villages in the high country. Prior to European contact, the Yokut population numbered between 15,000 and 20,000, and the Monos about 6,000. Around the 1500s AD, some of the Eastern Mono migrated across the Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley, where they created settlements adjoining Yokuts territory in the Sierra foothills near the Kings River. This group became known as the Monaches, or Western Mono. They eventually divided into as many as six distinct bands, one of which lived in the area near Grant Grove. The native population suffered greatly during the American expansion in the 19th century; a
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
epidemic killed off most of the Monache in 1862, and very few remain in the area today.


Early exploration and logging

The early Spanish exploration of California largely bypassed what is now Kings Canyon National Park. In 1805
Gabriel Moraga Gabriel Moraga (1765 – June 14, 1823) was a Sonoran-born Californio soldier, administrator, and explorer. As an explorer in Alta California, Gabriel Moraga found and gave names to a number of rivers in the Central Valley. Gabriel's son Joaquà ...
led an expedition through the Central Valley and crossed what is now the Kings River, bestowing the name ''Rio de los Santo Reyes'' (River of the Holy Kings) on the stream. Fur trappers also visited the areas in the 1820s, but most likely did not venture into the high country since beaver were only present at lower elevations. They were followed by prospectors during the
California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...
, which began in 1848. However, not much gold, nor other minerals, were discovered in this area. Hale Tharp, a disillusioned gold miner, is credited with the 1858 discovery of
Giant Forest The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within the United States' Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over above mean sea level in the western Sierra Nevada of California, covers an area of . The Giant Fore ...
in Sequoia National Park, which led to the further exploration and discovery of the other sequoia forests in the area, including Grant Grove. During the 1860s, a road was built to Grant Grove and many of the sequoias there were logged. The first of several sawmills opened in 1862, and logging operations expanded north and almost entirely leveled Converse Basin, then one of the largest sequoia groves in the world (although the Boole tree, the grove's biggest, was spared). The General Grant tree was discovered by Joseph H. Thomas, a sawmill operator, in 1862. Thomas' business partners, the Gamlin brothers, held a claim to the land surrounding Grant Grove, and their dwelling (built around 1872) has been preserved as a historic site. During the 1870s a government survey "disclosed the remarkable quality of General Grant Grove, and Israel Gamlin was persuaded to give up his claim so the area could be preserved." However, this did not entirely stop logging in the area – in 1875 a sequoia was chopped down and a section sent to the Philadelphia
Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition, officially the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876. It was the first official wo ...
of 1876. Reportedly, "eastern people refused to accept the exhibit as part of a single tree and called it the 'California Hoax'." The Centennial Stump, and most of the tree, remain as prominent features in Grant Grove: "Ladies from a nearby logging camp used to conduct Sunday school services for their children upon the stump."


Wilderness surveys

The first non-native people to venture into what is today considered the Kings Canyon backcountry or high country were likely
John C. Fremont John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...
's party in 1844, which attempted to cross the Sierra Nevada by way of the Kings River. However, a snowstorm impeded their progress and they were forced to retreat to the Central Valley. In 1858, the J.H. Johnson party successfully crossed the Sierra via the route Fremont had intended to find, via Kearsarge Pass at the far eastern end of Kings Canyon. The first scientific expedition to the area was the 1864 Whitney Survey, conducted by the Geological Survey of California led by William Brewer. After failed attempts to summit
Mount Whitney Mount Whitney (Paiute: ''Too-man-i-goo-yah'' or ''Too-man-go-yah'') is a mountain in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, and the highest point in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of . It lies in East–Central Califor ...
, the Brewer party descended into the Kings Canyon via Native American paths where "they remarked its resemblance to the Yosemite and were impressed by the enormous height of its cliffs." Although the rugged terrain made travel difficult, they discovered a route up the north wall of the canyon and named several prominent features, including Mount King, Mount Gardiner, the Palisades, and
Mount Brewer Mount Brewer is on the Great Western Divide, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada in California. It is located in Kings Canyon National Park, The peak was named for William Henry Brewer who worked on the first California Geological Survey and wa ...
. From the summit of the peak that would bear his name, Brewer described the view: Brewer's party left Kings Canyon via Kearsarge Pass where they encountered a group of prospectors led by Thomas Keough. Although details on the Keough expedition are scarce, the miners had been prospecting on the North Fork of the Kings River and were returning to their homes in the Owens Valley, indicating that they must have crossed the Middle Fork – then considered a region impossible to access by white settlers – making them the first non-natives to do so. Around 1869, sheepherder Frank Dusy discovered and named the Middle Fork's
Tehipite Valley Tehipite Valley, a glacial valley of the Middle Fork Kings River, is located in Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada of California. The valley is in Fresno County about southwest of Bishop and east of Fresno and is known for its Yose ...
, and later grazed his sheep there. Aside from such occasional uses, most of the high country remained little visited and mostly unexplored.


Park creation

It was not until
John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...
first visited in 1873 that Kings Canyon began receiving public attention. Muir was delighted at the canyon's similarity to
Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, United States. The valley is about long a ...
, as it reinforced his theory that the valleys were carved by massive glaciers during the last ice age. This competed with
Josiah Whitney Josiah Dwight Whitney (November 23, 1819 – August 18, 1896) was an American geologist, professor of geology at Harvard University (from 1865), and chief of the California Geological Survey (1860–1874). Through his travels and studies in the ...
's then-accepted theory that the mountain valleys were formed by earthquakes. Muir's writings on the geology of the park and the magnificence of its sequoia groves led to calls for preservation of the area, and Muir himself continued to lobby for the cause. In 1880 logging claims in the Grant Grove area were suspended by the federal government, in large part due to the political efforts of Colonel George W. Stewart. In March 1890 a bill (H.R. 8350) was introduced to Congress by Representative William Vandever proposing the creation of
Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...
. Subsequently, some "political intrigue" led to its substitution with H.R. 12187, which also included provisions for a General Grant National Park and the expansion of Sequoia National Park. The origins of this bill remain largely a mystery, although local politicians with an interest in preserving the park were likely involved. Daniel K. Zumwalt, an agent for the
Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...
– which owned many lumber interests in California – may have seen the park as a way to force their competitors in the Sequoia-Kings Canyon area out of business. On October 1, 1890, President
Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...
signed the bill into law, establishing General Grant National Park – the United States' fourth national park – which today is part of the smaller western section of Kings Canyon National Park. For many years the primary way for tourists to reach General Grant National Park was the Stephens Grade, a rough wagon road over which a stagecoach operated from Visalia beginning in the early 1900s. Initially, the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
had to station troops to protect the park from illegal grazing and hunting. Although these eventually ceased to be a problem, the rising number of visitors created its own sanitation and waste issues. In the summer of 1907 about 1,100 people visited the park. A new road reached the General Grant National Park by 1913; that summer, the park saw almost 2,800 tourists. In 1914 the park was turned over from military to civilian control (though the National Park Service was not formally established until 1916).


Park expansion and dam controversy

The future of the park's much larger eastern section remained in doubt for almost fifty years. The backcountry was largely inaccessible and unknown to tourists, requiring several days' journey on horseback through some very rugged terrain. Instead, the area was targeted by water supply and power interests including the city of
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, who wanted to build hydroelectric dams in Kings Canyon. Due to its heavy flow and long drop – in less than – the Kings River has considerable hydroelectric potential, and reservoirs were proposed for Cedar Grove, Tehipite Valley and Simpson Meadow, among other sites. Development interests blocked legislation that would have made the area a national park, but at the same time, the environmental lobby prevented any of these projects from being built. In 1935 the Generals Highway was completed connecting Sequoia and General Grant National Parks. In 1939 State Route 180 from Grant Grove to Kings Canyon was finally completed after ten years of construction, finally allowing large numbers of tourists to visit Cedar Grove for the first time. The road was built in part using state prison labor. However, a proposal to extend the state highway over Kearsarge Pass to the Owens Valley was defeated. Well-graded hiking trails were also extended into the backcountry to replace the rough pack trails used by sheepherders – including the
John Muir Trail The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, Kings Canyon National Park, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, Se ...
, completed in 1933 through what is now the eastern edge of Kings Canyon National Park. For many years a tiny ranger station and a few private structures (such as Knapp Cabin) had been the only development in Cedar Grove. Starting in 1937, large campgrounds were developed in Kings Canyon by the
U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...
, but construction of more permanent facilities was foregone since the area would lie at the bottom of one of the proposed reservoirs. Ultimately, local opposition to Los Angeles' attempts to secure the Kings River turned into significant political pressure to create a national park, which would prevent any dam projects there.
United States Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natura ...
Harold Ickes was a major proponent for the expansion of the park, and worked to unite local interests, who had widely different views on how much development should be allowed. Ickes also hired
Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his Monochrome photography, black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association ...
to photograph and document the area, generating publicity for the preservation movement. However, in order to placate the local irrigation districts – who wanted to leave open the option of reservoirs – Cedar Grove and Tehipite Valley were specifically excluded from the new park. On March 4, 1940, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
signed the bill to create Kings Canyon National Park, which added the original General Grant National Park to over of the High Sierra above Cedar Grove.


Later history and additions

The new Kings Canyon administration initially struggled to manage the huge park, which was more than 700 times the size of the original unit at Grant Grove. In the early years staff and expertise were often loaned from Sequoia National Park. In 1943 the administrations of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks were combined, as a cost-saving measure due to
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. After the war, the arrangement was preserved; today, the two parks are still managed as one. Postwar, visitation jumped enormously, from just over 82,000 in 1945 to 450,000 in 1951. Demand increased for tourist facilities at Cedar Grove, the terminus of the state highway – although the valley was not officially part of the park, having been omitted due to water-development interests. The extension of the road through the valley was controversial, due to potential ecological damage. By 1947 the Park Service had drafted a general plan including tourist lodges, concessions and a pack station. Then in 1948, Los Angeles unexpectedly re-filed its application to construct dams in Kings Canyon. The Kings River Conservation District (KRCD), representing local water agencies, immediately filed claims on the same sites. KRCD had no intention of constructing dams but hoped to block the possible threat to its water supply. Although the
Federal Power Commission The Federal Power Commission (FPC) was an independent commission of the United States government, originally organized on June 23, 1930, with five members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The FPC was originally created in ...
rejected Los Angeles' application, as it had prior to 1940, the city repeatedly refiled until 1963, when it was denied by both the California State Water Board and the federal government. One factor in the project's final failure was that even though the Cedar Grove dam site was outside the park, the project required two additional dams to be built upstream if it were to be economically feasible. However, those sites were now inside the park boundary as designated in 1940. On August 6, 1965, Cedar Grove and Tehipite Valley were finally added to the park, making them permanently off-limits to new dams as well. These annexations (with the exception of a tiny section in 1984, south of Grant Grove) brought Kings Canyon National Park to its present size. Starting in the 1950s, in response to growing traffic and crowding at national parks, the Park Service implemented
Mission 66 Mission 66 was a United States National Park Service ten-year program that was intended to dramatically expand Park Service visitor services by 1966, in time for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Park Service. When the National P ...
which proposed large new visitor developments for Kings Canyon and other parks. This included new visitor centers at Grant Grove and Cedar Grove, electrification and sewage facilities at Cedar Grove, and substantial new accommodations, trails, and parking areas. After the Cedar Grove development was delayed by the final years of the dam debacle, the Park Service released a new plan in 1972, which included cabins for 260 people, and an store and cafeteria complex, hoping to develop the area in a way similar to
Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, United States. The valley is about long a ...
. In 1974 the park saw 1,216,800 visitors, a number that has not been exceeded since. However, by 1975 public hearings showed such an opposition to intense development, that ultimately only a small lodge and store were added to the canyon. The rising number of visitors to the backcountry – from 8,000 in 1962 to over 44,000 in 1971 – created its own problems in the form of litter, illegal campfires and contact with dangerous wildlife such as bears. In 1966 and 1971 the Park Service proposed, controversially, to designate most of the park as
wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...
, which would place much greater restrictions on its use. In 1973 the number of backpackers was first restricted via a quota system. Finally, on September 28, 1984, Congress designated over 85 percent of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks as wilderness. In 1987, the Middle and South Forks of the Kings River were designated
Wild and Scenic Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildlife, an undomesticated organism * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild ...
.


Recreation

Grant Grove, the only vehicular entrance to the park, is east of
Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
via Highway 180. In addition to Highway 180 from the west, Highway 198, the Generals Highway, provides access from Sequoia National Park in the south. The roads converge in Grant Grove Village, from where Highway 180 continues another northeast to Cedar Grove. There is no vehicular access from Highway 395 on the eastern side of the park. There is currently no public transportation to Kings Canyon National Park; the Big Trees Shuttle, which originally operated between Sequoia National Park and Grant Grove, is no longer in service. The National Park Service maintains visitor centers at Grant Grove and Cedar Grove. Grant Grove Village is the most developed part of the park and includes the 36-room John Muir Lodge (the park's largest hotel), visitor cabins, a restaurant and a general store. Cedar Grove also has a small market, but overall the facilities there are much more limited. Barring extreme weather, the Grant Grove section is open year-round; Cedar Grove is closed in winter. Highway 180 is plowed only as far as Princess Meadow, the junction with the Hume Lake Road, which remains open to Hume Lake in winter. Due to its limited road access, Kings Canyon receives many fewer visitors than its neighboring national parks, Sequoia and Yosemite. The overall decline in national park visitation in the late 1990s hit Kings Canyon considerably harder than the other parks; from 1970 to 1990 it averaged almost a million visitors per year, but in the 21st century, it has averaged just 560,000. In 2016, it saw an increase to 607,479 visitors, which (with the exception of 2009) was the highest count since 1995. Since records began in 1904, an approximate total of 53 million people have visited Kings Canyon.


Campgrounds and hiking

In Grant Grove, the three major campgrounds are Azalea, Crystal Springs and Sunset, with 319 sites in total. With the exception of Sunset, they operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Cedar Grove has 314 sites in the Sentinel, Sheep Creek and Moraine Campgrounds, which are also first-come, first-served; sites at the Canyon View group camp must be reserved. During high demand periods, additional campsites may be placed on a reservation system. All campgrounds have flush toilets and showers, although water use may be restricted depending on the season. There are a number of day hikes in the parts of Kings Canyon National Park accessible by road. In the Grant Grove area a one-mile (1.6 km) trail leads to the General Grant Tree, and several longer trails reach nearby points of interest such as Redwood Mountain, the largest sequoia grove. In Cedar Grove, easy hikes include the boardwalk path through Zumwalt Meadow – providing broad views of Kings Canyon – and the short walk to Roaring River Falls; there are also many longer day hikes such as an round trip to Mist Falls, and the round trip climb to Lookout Peak above Kings Canyon. A number of historical sites in the park are easily accessible via short walks, including Gamlin Cabin, built by the Gamlin brothers, who had a timber claim at Grant Grove before it became a national park. it is believed to be the first permanent structure built in the park area. Knapp Cabin, listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
, is the oldest surviving structure in Cedar Grove, dating back to 1925. Another point of interest is the extensive Boyden Cavern system whose entrance is located just outside the park's western boundary, in the Monarch Wilderness. As of 2016, the cave was closed due to damage from the
Rough Fire The Rough Fire was a major wildfire in Fresno County, California, and the largest of the 2015 California wildfire season. The fire was ignited by a lightning strike on July 31 and burned , largely in the Sierra National Forest and the Sequoia N ...
.


Backcountry travel

Since most of Kings Canyon is wilderness and roads extend only a small distance into the park, backpacking (and less commonly, horsepacking) are the only way to see the majority of the park. Unlike day hikers, overnight backpackers must obtain a wilderness permit from a ranger station or visitor center. During the peak tourist season (typically between May and September), a quota applies for wilderness permits, of which 75 percent are set aside for prior reservations, with the remainder for walk-ins. Outside the quota period permits are still required, although the limit no longer applies. Although backpackers account for a relatively small percentage of the total visitors, some of the backcountry trails are still quite heavily used. Due to the popularity of some backcountry camps, stays can be limited to one or two nights. During the summer, the Park Service staffs backcountry ranger stations at McClure Meadow, Le Conte Meadow, Rae Lakes, Charlotte Lake and Roaring River. Road's End at Cedar Grove is a major jumping-off point for trips into the backcountry. The Rae Lakes Loop, , is one of the most popular backpacking trips and passes through the deep canyons of Paradise Valley, the high Woods Creek suspension bridge and exposed alpine country before reaching Rae Lakes, a chain of glacial tarns set below peaks. Rae Lakes Loop hikers also climb over Glen Pass reaching a peak elevation of just under 12,000 feet. From the top of the pass, hikers can see views of Rae Lakes and the surrounding basin. The combined
Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...
/
John Muir Trail The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, Kings Canyon National Park, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, Se ...
forms the backbone of the trail system, winding about from Piute Canyon at the park's northern tip to
Forester Pass Forester Pass is a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada. Located on the Kings-Kern Divide and on the boundary between Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park, Forester Pass connects the drainages of Bubbs Creek (a tributary of the S ...
, , in the south. Many hikes in Kings Canyon, including Rae Lakes, include parts of the PCT/JMT. There are also trailheads at Grant Grove which lead to more moderate hikes in the lower western Sierra Nevada, many in the Jennie Lakes Wilderness (just outside the national park). Many parts of the park, such as the Middle Fork of the Kings River, are more difficult to access, requiring multi-day hikes over difficult terrain. Simpson Meadow on the Middle Fork is a , one-way hike from Cedar Grove, with well over of elevation change. Other trailheads outside the park provide access to some of its more isolated locations, such as Tehipite Valley, a one-way hike from the
Wishon Dam Wishon Dam (National ID # CA00411) is a dam in Fresno County, California in the Sierra National Forest, in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. It impounds the North Fork Kings River to form Wishon Reservoir. The earthen and rockfill gravity dam wa ...
trailhead in the Sierra National Forest. The exposed and unmaintained descent into the valley is "notorious" as one of the park's most difficult hikes. Several trails also access the park from the Owens Valley to the east; all surmount passes more than high. The closest and most heavily used eastern approach is via Onion Valley Road, which terminates about a mile (1.6 km) east of the park boundary in the Inyo National Forest. The Kearsarge Pass Trail begins at Onion Valley Campground and links to the PCT/JMT via the eponymous pass. During the spring and early summer, river crossings can be hazardous; in response the Park Service has installed bridges along some of the major trails. By late August or September of most years, rivers will have dropped to relatively safe levels. The high country is typically snow free between May and November, although in particularly wet years, large areas of snow may persist into July. In winter, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are common activities. The Park Service provides ranger-led snowshoe walks and maintains some groomed trails in the Grant Grove area. Longer trips into the backcountry are also possible, although due to the rough terrain, typically deep snows and lack of ranger patrols during the winter, this is recommended only for skilled winter travelers. As with backpacking, wilderness permits are required for any overnight trips in winter.


Climbing and canyoneering

The large, exposed granite cliffs and domes in Kings Canyon provide opportunities for rock climbing. However, many such features require long or circuitous hikes to reach their bases, which deters many climbers. These include The Obelisk, overlooking Kings Canyon at the park's western boundary, multipitch climbs at Charlito Dome and Charlotte Dome well up the Bubbs Creek Trail, and Tehipite Dome, which requires a nearly roundtrip hike just to access. Many of the park's prominent peaks also require technical climbing – including
North Palisade North Palisade is the third-highest mountain in the Sierra Nevada range of California, and one of the state's small number of peaks over 14,000 feet, known as fourteeners. It is the highest peak of the Palisades group of peaks in the central pa ...
, the highest point in the park, and some of its neighbors along the Sierra crest. In ''The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, Trails'' (2009) North Palisade is described as "''the'' classic peak of the High Sierra ... It is striking from a distance and has routes that will challenge climbers of all abilities and preferences." Canyoneering, bouldering, bushwhacking and
rappelling Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling, the person descending controls their own movement down a static or fixed rope, in cont ...
are often necessary to explore parts of the backcountry without developed trails. A notably challenging route is down Enchanted Gorge in the Middle Fork backcountry, where Disappearing Creek vanishes under huge talus piles only to re-emerge several miles downstream, hence the name. Nearby Goddard Canyon is an easier – albeit still rugged – route, and is known for its scenic meadows and many waterfalls. The Gorge of Despair above Tehipite Valley is known for its combination of cliffs, waterfalls and deep pools, whose descent requires rappelling gear and wetsuits to achieve. Because of the park's size, lack of cell reception and limited personnel for search and rescue operations, only experienced cross-country travelers should attempt to hike off trail.


Water sports

In Cedar Grove, about of the South Fork are considered good waters for
fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is in ...
. Although the river was once stocked with trout, the Park Service has not stocked the river since the 1970s, in favor of letting the fishery return to natural conditions. While rainbow, brown, and brook trout are found in various stretches of the river, only rainbows are native to the Sierra Nevada, the others having been planted by sportsmen in the early 20th century. The river is generally low and warm enough for wading by early autumn. In order to preserve the natural fishery, only
catch and release Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing where after capture the fish is Fish hook, unhooked and returned live to the water. Originally adopted in the United Kingdom by Coarse fishing, coarse fishermen to Overfishing, preser ...
is allowed for rainbows. A California state fishing license is required for visitors 16 years or older. The rainbow trout in the Kings river are small, usually no more than . In order to protect riparian habitat, the gently flowing South Fork is closed to boating in Cedar Grove between Bubbs Creek and the western boundary of the park. However, swimming is allowed in certain sections of the river, with Muir Rock and the Red Bridge being popular swimming holes. Although there are many alpine lakes in the park at high elevations, most are impractical to access for boating or swimming. Nearby Hume Lake, formed by a historic mill-pond dam, is located in the Sequoia National Forest between the two sections of the park and is used for boating, swimming and fishing. Most of the park's other rivers are extremely steep and fast-flowing, and are suitable only for advanced
kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...
ing. The Kings River above Pine Flat Reservoir is a commercial whitewater run with its put-in near the western boundary of the park, but most of the run itself is on national forest. Most rivers in the park itself are inaccessible by road. The Middle Fork is one of the most difficult-to-access whitewater runs in the entire state, since boats and equipment must be carried through miles of backcountry to reach it. ''Canoe Kayak'' magazine describes the Middle Fork run, which passes through some of the most isolated parts of the Sierra, as "the very definition of ''epic'' with paddlers traveling around the world just to make a once-in-a-lifetime descent". Kayakers take about five days to descend the Class V Middle Fork from its headwaters to at Pine Flat Reservoir.


See also

* :Fauna of the Sierra Nevada (United States), Fauna of the Sierra Nevada (United States) * Bibliography of the Sierra Nevada *
Ecology of the Sierra Nevada :''See Sierra Nevada for general information about the mountain range in the United States.'' The ecology of the Sierra Nevada, located in the U.S. states of California and Nevada, is diverse and complex. The combination of climate, topography, m ...
*
Giant Sequoia National Monument The Giant Sequoia National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada in eastern central California. It is administered by the United States Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service as part of th ...
*
List of national parks of the United States The United States has 63 national parks, which are congressionally designated protected areas operated by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. National parks are designated for their natural beauty, unique g ...
* List of plants of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.) * List of U.S. National Parks by elevation *
National parks in California There are nine national parks located in the state of California managed by the National Park Service. National parks protect significant scenic areas and nature reserves, provide educational programs, community service opportuni ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks * Protected areas of the Sierra Nevada


References


External links


Official site for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks


(
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
), history of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
Virtualparks.org: Panoramic photos of North Kings Canyon NP




{{authority control National parks in California Kings River (California) Landforms of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Biosphere reserves of the United States Parks in Fresno County, California Parks in Tulare County, California Protected areas of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Protected areas established in 1940 1940 establishments in California History of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Sierra Nevada (United States)