# Sequoia National Park/kings Canyon



## azthroop (Jun 16, 2007)

We just made it back from a week at Sequoia National Park/Forest and a day trip to Kings Canyon! It was a blast and I would highly recommend it! I will report more and post some pics.

Thanks to all of those who have posted dry camping hints. I read a number of them before we left and they were a big help. I do think I will invest in a generator to charge the battery, though. With a DW and four kids, they tend to go through the two 6V batteries quite fast!









More to come.

azthroop


----------



## mike (Dec 17, 2006)

We also stayed there on our trip. It was great, yes a gen was nice. I highly recommend staying at lodgepole. the trees are incredible


----------



## CamperFred (Mar 22, 2009)

We camped at Dorst Creek a couple of weeks ago. It was great fun. In loop F there is a trail to the creek where there are swimming holes and slide rocks. The kids had a blast there.


----------



## azthroop (Jun 16, 2007)

Trying to remember how to post pictures. It has been way too long for me to remember. Any help??


----------



## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

azthroop said:


> We just made it back from a week at Sequoia National Park/Forest and a day trip to Kings Canyon!


Which campground did you stay at? Any recommendations on a site number?


----------



## ED_RN (Jun 25, 2006)

Love that area. We have been going to Cedar Grove every year for about the last 15 years. It's another hours drive down into the canyon from the park entrance but well worth it. The road is a bit narrow is some spots due to the rock faces along the edge but no problem getting our 23 RS in there. We just got back last Saturday and actually saw about a 30 foot diesel pusher in the campground. Only bad part is Al Gore had the dump station and gas station taken out a few years ago. So we have to wait to dump at Princess Campground on the way out. There are flush toilets in the campgrounds and showers available near the store so usually only use the bathroom for emergencies during the night. If I remember right Dorst has a dump station. The Kings River runs along side the campgrounds in Cedar Grove and in mid to late summer the is flow is low enough that there are many areas where you can safely swim. The water is cold though. Last week the rangers had the water temperature posted as 58.9. Too cold for my likeing but the kids don't care. Last year we stayed at Princess for 2 days because we realized since we drive right through Sequioa on our way in our daughter had never really seen alot of the big trees except for the General Grant. 
If anyone wants to try Cedar Grove I'll give you a couple of hints. In summer Sunday and early in the week are the best days to go in. The campgrounds get pretty full starting Thursday afternoon because alot of the locals come up to camp for the weekend. There are lots of great camp sites but some of the best are sites 13-16 in Sentinel campground. All four are right on the river, two you have to back into and 2 are drive thru with "C" shaped pads. As I said the dump station is still there but sewer access has been capped. It is right before Sheeps Creek campground and the potable water lines are still there and they are the only ones have that haven't had the threads ground off of them. I usually pull in there to fill the water tank before moving on to the camp ground. That leads to another issue, you will need a "water thief' or similar gadget if you want to fill the tanks elsewhere in the park since as I said the park services grinds the threads off of all the water bibs. Lastly, although we didn't have any rain this year except for a few sprinkles one afternoon late afternoon showers even in July and August can happen. they are usually short lived but if you don't plan stuff will get wet. 
Can you tell I like this place??


----------



## cabullydogs (Jul 12, 2008)

would love to see the photos and hear about where you stayed. I'd like ot plan a trip there next year.


----------



## azthroop (Jun 16, 2007)

Okay, here is my try at adding the photos. I have them on photobucket. Sequoia Trip

Please let me know if it works. If I was a betting man, I will probably need to fix something.

Back to the trip. We ended up camping in the Azalea campground. It is just past the little general store on the way to the General Grant Tree. It is dry camping and no dump station. I read earlier that Mr. Gore had them removed when he was still around! That is a bummer. The nearest dump is in the Princess Campground about 5 miles away. The only problem is the sign said not recommend for trailers/RV's over 25 feet (maybe it was 27 ft). I have the 31RQS so I am little bigger. I think I can make it, but it will be tight. We didn't use the toilet/sinks too much so I just hoofed it home, but I will definitely dump there next time. That campground looked nice too.

The Azalea campground has only a few sights for our trailer size, but we found one at site 53 and it was quite secluded. However, should a tent camper (not the trailer, just a tent) have showed up it would have been crowded, but with six people and a dog, I think we kept them away!! The site is about a five minute walk down to the General Grant Tree, so that is nice. There are only two restrooms in the park and they are not by the site, but if you walk down the hill behind the site, there is a picnic area on other side of the little seasonal creek that is very nice! It works well except for the middle of the night visits, so everyone only used the trailer during that time.

The location is nice, too, as it was a good starting point for going to Kings Canyon (a must see) and then over to the General Sherman Tree, Moro Rock, etc. We had some really big trees, including he giant sequoias around us. There was still lots of wood to scavenge too. The campsites have their own fire pits.

Kings Canyon was a bit of a drive going, but seemed much shorter coming back. We made it all the way to Roads End and then stopped and went swimming for quite some time in the river. Once the numbness took over, the water was quite pleasant! We stopped by Grizzly Falls, Roaring Falls and other places on the way. The kids and DW all enjoyed it.

The trip to the "other side" was great too. Each time we would drive through the different campgrounds and get a map and start scoping out the best sites. We tried to use a 1 to 5 rating or so many stars. The General Sherman Tree is done very well. No matter what, be prepared to be a little out of breath. Of course, having not exercised for a while probably made me gulp for air a little more than others!! It was fine, though. We climbed Moro Rock. Now if you don't like heights, that would be me, be ready to be a little nervous! It was almost 500 steps (stair steps) along with path ways to the top. Incredible view, too bad I couldn't manage to stay up there longer, but it is a LONG WAY down!

The highlight of the trip was actually seeing a bear down in the Crescent Meadow area. The kids kept wanting to get closer and I had to be the bad guy and remind them that this was not Gentle Ben. Of course, they turned and asked, "Who is Gentle Ben"!!

I really liked the Azalea campground, but we may try the Princess Campground next time. Hume Lake was fun to drive down to also. They have gas down there, as Mr. Gore stopped selling gas in the Park, too.

Please let me know if the pictures worked.

azthroop


----------



## ED_RN (Jun 25, 2006)

Man sounds like you saw it all. I have difficulty with the getting in and waiting for the numbness part. The water in Hume Lake is much warmer than the Kings thankfully. Yes Mr. Gore stopped gas sales.


----------



## WACOUGAR (Dec 20, 2006)

Thanks for sharing your photos. That really brought back some memories!! Sequoia was the first place my husband and I ever went camping after we got married (in a tent). We really enjoyed that trip and would love to get back down there again someday (we lived in Santa Maria back then). I like seeing the photo of Hume Lake also as I used to go there every year for church camp.

Glad you had a great time. Enjoy the time with your kids. They grow up so fast. Our oldest is heading off to college this weekend. Yikes!!! There is no better way to spend time with the kids than in the RV seeing our country.

Thanks again for sharing.

Kelly


----------



## mike (Dec 17, 2006)

we stayed at lodgepole, there were many bear sighting but we did not see any. Our neighbors in a pop up said they saw one in the middle of the night just outside our tt. We were sitting at another neighbors campfire and saw a coyete walk through our campsite, I shined a light over there and he took off. We kept a good eye on our four y.o. There was a stream that was good for cooling off, but as others have said the water is pretty cold. We were close to the sherman tree and hiked there with our 4 y.o. and took the bus back. Sequoia has a pretty good bus system and it will take u were u want to go. there is a place in the park called beatle rock that is great for the little guys. They will even give them a back pack with "assignments", the backpack has a digital camera that lets the little ones take thier own pics and the park service will put them on a cd for them. The ranger programs were excellant and my 4 y.o. got her second ranger badge for the trip, overall she got three which she is pretty proud of.


----------



## ORvagabond (Apr 17, 2009)

Incredible photos!!! Thanks for sharing as it brought back memories as I grew up in the area and graduated from high school there.


----------

