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Recovering From Winter Will Delay Some Access At Sequoia, Kings Canyon National Parks

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By Compiled From N... - May 12th, 2023

Road damage caused by winter's storms is delaying access to parts of Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks/NPS file

Access to some of the most popular destinations in Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks will be delayed this spring, and in the case of Kings Canyon won't be possible this year, as crews continue to clean up and repair damage caused by winter's numerous storms.

Visitors will not be able to reach the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon this year due to road damage, and Crystal Cave in Sequoia will not open this year because of damage to its access road.

Memorial Day weekend is the usual kick-off to summer in the parks, but unfortunately this year access to the world’s largest tree (by volume) and the surrounding Giant Forest and Lodgepole area won’t be open in time, the two parks said in a joint release Friday.  

"Along the Generals Highway between Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park and Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park there are two sites with severe road damage. Crews were able to access one site last week and make temporary repairs to restore administrative traffic flow. This week crews made it to the second site. Based on repair assessments and snow clearing that still needs to happen, with only a couple weeks left before the holiday weekend, the difficult decision was made to postpone the reopening," the release said.

Current status and projected reopening timeframes as of May 11:  

Sequoia National Park    

The Foothills area between the Sequoia entrance station and Hospital Rock: CURRENTLY OPEN

Access is limited to lower elevation camping, trails, wildflowers, wilderness, and rivers. There currently is no access to giant sequoias.  

Park staff warn that rivers are very cold and very swift with fresh snowmelt. The soil near and along the rivers is wet and unstable. It can collapse unexpectedly under the weight of people, including children, and result in falls into the river.

Additionally, work work might require traffic delays in areas where single-lane traffic flow is implemented.

The Giant Forest/Wolverton/Lodgepole/Wuksachi Areas  

This area provides access to giant sequoias, the General Sherman Tree, camping, lodging, wilderness, Moro Rock, Tunnel Log, and more.  

Access via Highway 180 through the Kings Canyon entrance station   

  • Estimated Reopening: June 2 – June 9  

Access via Highway 198 through the Sequoia entrance station   

  • Estimated Reopening: July 1   

Crystal Cave is closed for 2023 due to significant road damage along Crystal Cave Road.   

Mineral King  

Due to severe road damage along the Mineral King Road both inside and outside the park boundary, no vehicular public access is anticipated before August, and likely to be later. Other types of access will be assessed in June after Tulare County completes temporary repair work and park personnel can go in and assess damage within the park boundary.  

Kings Canyon National Park   

Grant Grove:CURRENTLY OPEN   

This area provides access to giant sequoias, the General Grant Tree, winter snowplay, camping, lodging, restaurant, trails, and more.  

Cedar Grove 

Due to severe road damage along the Highway 180 corridor, outside the park, between Grant Grove and Cedar Grove, Caltrans does not expect repairs to be completed before the end of the summer season. This means public access is not expected into the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon National Park for the 2023 summer season.   

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Comments

Submitted by y_p_w on May 13, 2023 - 1:29am.

No real message but I noticed that commenting was available for this article and just wanted to say hi since that seems to be a rare thing these days on NPT.


Submitted by RR on May 14, 2023 - 5:35pm.

y_p_w, Sadly, most comments are from the same few people who just want to air political greivances.


Submitted by Tristan on May 15, 2023 - 9:33am.

This is helpful for we have reservations at the Buckey Tree Lodge, right there on 198, it makes no sense to keep them during our reservation of June 15-20 if we can't access 198 to go up into the park, having to take 180 instead...


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