If I’m being honest, Kings Canyon wasn’t even a park I was familiar with and I couldn’t have even told you it existed before I started researching places to see in California. As I planned our big road trip through the state, I was looking at the map to see what was available to see and saw this park listed. Since we’re all about seeing National Parks, I knew this needed to be added to the agenda.

Kings Canyon National Park is connected to Sequoia National Park and sits directly north of it. Both parks are in the Sierra Nevada mountains and are east of Fresno, California. Interestingly enough, much of the scenic drive through Kings Canyon is technically in Giant Sequoia National Monument and not in Kings Canyon National Park. So if you’re visiting this area you’ll not only be able to check Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks off your list but you’ll also get a National Monument checked off as well. ;)

Depending on what you like to do while visiting a park, this is definitely a park that can be seen in a day if you’re just wanting to check it out and see some amazing views. We just took one day to see it and these are the things I recommend checking out.

Official Sign

We always love to take a pic at the official park sign but unfortunately we never found one for Kings Canyon. I don’t know if we just missed it or if there isn’t one. I’m assuming we missed it but I have no idea where it could have been if there is one. lol!

We did find a sign for Giant Sequoia National Monument as we were heading toward Kings Canyon Big Stump entrance. It was along a narrow highway and a ways beyond the pull off area and I didn’t want to walk that close to the road so we opted to take our pic from a distance. haha!

Big Stump of the Mark Twain Tree

Had I done a little more research about this area before we went, I probably would have seen that there is a stop near this entrance for Big Stump but I never saw that while we were there unfortunately so we didn’t see that. But it sounds like it’s a pretty cool thing so I would add that to your agenda. ;)

King Canyon Visitor Center

I always enjoy checking out all of the visitor centers in a park because they’re all different with a variety of things to learn about. This one was a nice one with lots of displays where you could learn all about the trees and the landscape of the area. And of course you can get your NP passport book stamped and grab some souvenirs if you’d like!

General Grant Tree Trail

This is a beautiful area! When we got to this area we walked the trail to see the General Grant tree. This tree is the 3rd largest tree in the world by volume! It’s impossible to capture in a picture how amazing these trees truly are. The perspective just isn’t there with a photo. But the trees on this trail are just incredible. One in particular is one that is a fallen tree. It’s so large that you can walk through the inside of it with plenty of space. It’s a pretty cool feature along this trail because you can enter from either end of the tree and walk through the whole thing, going right through the middle of the whole trail loop.

Once we finished walking this trail, we decided to pull out our cooler and have a little picnic lunch on the back of our truck overlooking a little valley. It was such a peaceful area and it was nice to sit and listen to the sounds of nature.

Panoramic Point Overlook

This is an overlook that you can drive to if the road is open. Unfortunately it was not the day we were there but I would definitely include this on your route if it’s available.

Highway 180 — scenic drive through the canyon

As I mentioned before, this part of the park is actually part of Giant Sequoia National Monument until you’re almost to the Cedar Grove Visitor Center. This road was only open to Grizzly Falls the day we were there so that was as far as we were able to take the road and then we turned around to go back.

There are quite a few places along this route with pull off areas, view points, and overlooks. They all offer amazing views of the area. You can see things like the canyon, waterfalls, the Kings River, and of course beautiful mountain views.

I will warn you, some sections of the road are a little scary! haha! You’re driving along the edge of the mountain and the canyon is a steep drop off the side of the road so be prepared for that! Thankfully the majority of it isn’t like that and it’s just a nice, scenic drive. ;)

Hume Lake

Once we came back through the canyon after reaching Grizzly Falls, we took the turnoff for Hume Lake to take that drive down to the south to meet up with Generals Highway. We discovered even more beautiful areas down this road and this is definitely a route I’d recommend.

Hume is pretty amazing. Not only is it a beautiful lake area, it has a huge campground as well as a little town that has shops and such to take care of your basic necessities. There are lots of outdoor activities to do as well so you could easily spend several days in Hume and have plenty to do.

Generals Highway Overlooks

Our last stops on our adventure through Kings Canyon National Park were Redwood Mountain Overlook and Kings Canyon Overlook — both of which are on the Generals Highway east of the Big Stump entrance. Both of these overlooks provide a gorgeous view and it’s a nice way to wrap up the day.

We did love this area and there were some amazing views so it’s definitely worth the visit. If you have more time and you’re able to venture off the road and take some hikes, maybe explore Boyden Cavern (extra cost), or camp in any of the many campgrounds. This could be a place you could easily spend a lot more time. But if you’re like us and you just want to take a day to drive through and see the highlights, this will help you do just that.