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Tioga
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Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | |||||||||||||||
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For your first day out, spend time exploring southern Yosemite, the Wawona Hotel and Mariposa Grove of giant redwoods. The Wawona is a charming old hotel in a very pretty location. If you are traveling through this part of Yosemite on a Saturday late afternoon, you can enjoy a traditional Western Barbecue from 5:00-7:00. Make a stop at the Pioneer History Center & Covered Bridge, where the docents are often in period costume and relate stories of earlier travelers. The Mariposa Grove of Redwood trees are just off the entrance to Yosemite where you can catch a narrated one hour tram tour. Leaving Yosemite continue south on 41 to the town of Coarse Gold. Here is the new Chukchansi Casino and resort with big name entertainment. This is no rinky-dink operation! Our only disappointment was the way the machines payout. We like to hear the coins drop, scoop them up and sashay out with big grins as if we had actually won! The machines we came across, none of which took our quarters to begin play, each paid out in a chit which we could take to another machine or to the cashier. South again on 41 to 99 at Fresno, then continue South on 99 to Visalia. From here take 198 East to the small community of Lemon Cove where we had reservations at the Plantation Bed & Breakfast. (Total drive time was 4 hours.) We stayed in the Mammy room at $159 a night in this Gone with the Wind themed b&b. The room was nicely sized with a king bed, big closet, rocking chair, small bath and shower, TV/VCR combination and a working fireplace. Be sure to take advantage of the swimming pool, hot tub and groomed lawn with hammock gardens. Gourmet breakfasts were beautifully prepared and delicious too! Only 16 miles to the park, we enjoyed the ride through the village of Three Rivers and ate dinner at two local restaurants. The Gateway, just a bit from the park entrance had a nice menu and a scenic location, though the prices were a bit steep. On both days we enjoyed stops at the Bullene Vineyards where we picked up some white wine to enjoy later in the hot tub.
Once
into Sequoia National Park, the road swiftly becomes one made for the
movies and a small foreign car. It has breathtaking views, severe drops,
sharp curves
and dramatic scenery as the road climbs from 500 feet above sea level in Lemon Cove to almost 7,000 feet
at the pinnacle. The Sherman Tree is the highlight of park, but the area was under construction during our visit as they build a new parking lot to protect the tree roots. Perhaps this is done now. Shortly after the Sherman Tree is another pullover with a big walk-in tree that was damaged in a long-ago fire. The museum, just down the road a bit more, is loaded with interesting tidbits about these trees, what makes them grow so tall, age, affects of fire and man.... Leaving area of the tall trees we took the remote and unpopulated Ten Mile Road to Hume Lake where we came across Hume Lake Christian Camp, a bustling lake front resort community located at the base of Hume Lake with all the water and outdoor activities one could think of. Continuing on it is
important to note the confusion of signage, there are two parts to Kings
Canyon National Park, a small bit to the west adjoining Sequoia National
Park, and the main canyon that leads to Cedar Lodge. The main canyon route is like
a little Yosemite, with less traffic.
This route is very driving intensive and we suggest that you do one day in Kings Canyon and a second exploring Sequoia. We would have enjoyed more time in each! Additional information on both parks can be found on the website for the National Park Service. |
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This
route is great for your way into Groveland from Los Angeles or on the way to
Los Angeles from Groveland and should be at least 2 days. There is a fair map with
all the major points and roads on it at the
Along
the way one first comes across the Kings Canyon Lodge, a lonely outpost
with cabins, an antique gas station and a restaurant. We had timed this
for our lunch. Upon arrival it was just vacant, no sign of open or closed,
just mysteriously quiet. After a few minutes of looking and knocking we
continued up the canyon, glad that we had not timed this stop to fill our
gas tank! This section of the Kings river is famous for fishing, picnicking
and its rare remoteness. There is a cavern to explore along the way and at
the end a campgrounds, small hotel and gift shop. The road into the canyon is also
fantastically dramatic with sheer drops, dizzying curves and open vista
views and well worth every heart stopping moment! Unfortunately,
this is also where the camera ran out of charge!
To return we backtracked
the canyon along 180 towards Fresno then took a small scenic country route
245, notable for its curves and climbs! This brought us back to The
Plantation in plenty of time for a swim, dinner a movie, and an early
nights sleep to start all over with another adventure the next day.
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