We're considering a trip to King's Canyon in May 2024. I've never been, so I'm not familiar with the park. It appears as if the Cedar Grove and Mineral Kings areas are closed due to winter storm damage earlier this year. There isn't an estimated date as to when these areas will be re-opened.

Does anybody know if this would be a major reason to defer the trip until later ? We would probably just be in the park for 1, maybe 2 days at most and we wouldn't be camping. Just going in to see some of the major attractions and determine if we would like to return for a longer visit. Any help would be appreciated.

We went this summer. We spent half a day in KCNP. Then you roll into Sequoia NP. They are collocated. We couldn't see most of KC due to winter road damage and closed roads. I'd spend some time around the General Grant tree and village. But doubt I'd stay the night in that national park. Sequoia and then Yosemite were our main targets.

You don't need long just for Kings canyon if you aren't doing Sequoia as part of both and limping them together. Or camping. SEKI and in particular the KI part is back country. Just drive to Roads End. Hit up falls. Picnic. May still sees lots of the High Country closed.

We did kings in 1/2 a day and a couple in sequoia. Subsequent trips just came on foot and left that way. And later in the year.

speckledtrout said:

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We're considering a trip to King's Canyon in May 2024. I've never been, so I'm not familiar with the park. It appears as if the Cedar Grove and Mineral Kings areas are closed due to winter storm damage earlier this year. There isn't an estimated date as to when these areas will be re-opened.

Does anybody know if this would be a major reason to defer the trip until later ? We would probably just be in the park for 1, maybe 2 days at most and we wouldn't be camping. Just going in to see some of the major attractions and determine if we would like to return for a longer visit. Any help would be appreciated.

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We did both for 3 days and really enjoyed them. I don't see why you couldn't hit the highlights like we did. They're connected by the same road down the length. We had a house at the entrance to Sequoia, but had to drive up to King's Canyon to enter the parks this June.

Here's King's Canyon. Yes, that's us walking through the length of a fallen redwood. The photos can't convey their size. Something you can only truly experience in person.

We drove to Grant's grove and hiked around and through the trees (literally) for an hour or 2. Then north on 180 to Hume's lake (which was the farthest we could go in King's while we were there). The next day we entered King's and headed east down the length of General's highway to Sequoia.

In Sequoia we stopped a bunch to play in the snow and look at various groves of redwoods. We took a picnic lunch and ate on the banks of the Kaweah River before hiking up to Tokopah Falls and seeing a bear! Then drove down to General Sherman (shuttle required) and to drive through the Sequoia Tunnel Log.

I'd still disagree on the breakout of days, but your pictures make a very strong argument. They are great and it takes me back to my last trip to the west side of the parks!