How to visit and what to see in Sequoia National Park (California)

In our coast-to-coast road trip through the United States, after visiting the city of Los Angeles, it's time to return to interior of california looking for our next stage.

This is the sequoia national park, where a day of more than 400 kilometers by car awaited us to get there.

El sequoia national park It is located in the southern part of the mountain range known as Sierra Nevada, and has an area of ​​1.635 square kilometers.

The trip to the park has been fantastic, for one inland California where we have seen vineyards and landscapes, if you can say that, in a certain Mediterranean style.

We have passed close to Ash y Sacramento (state capital) although we have not stopped to visit them; In some guides we have read that Sacramento is where there are the most car thefts in the United States.

As we approached the national park, the landscape It has been changing to become more mountainous, with peculiar tones between green and brown.

What to see in Three Rivers in California

Our hotel was a few miles from the entrance to the national park, in a small, beautifully named town called Three rivers, where, obviously, three rivers converged.

Three rivers It is a typical mountain town where, apart from the possibility of visit the sequoia park, the visitor finds a wide range of activities, such as hiking excursions, kayaking, camping, etc…

Our hotel, on this occasion of the Best Western chain (for some unknown reason, there were no hotels that we were used to), it had spacious, well-kept rooms, with very pleasant views.

Managed by Hindus, the hotel also had a swimming pool, and after settling in and taking a tour of its facilities, we went to see the town of Three Rivers.

There we decided to eat at a Mexican restaurant run by… Mexicans. Nice and well prepared food.

We took, I think we all, some Crowns (there they are called Crowns, as in Mexico). Apparently, in Spain the name of Crowns was previously patented and is the only country in the world this famous beer is called Coronita.

After finishing our little Mexican feast, we left for the park.

The main characteristic of sequoia national park en California It is its famous forest giant sequoias,

In it is found the redwood known as General Sherman, the largest tree in the world which attracts attention for its spectacular nature, 84 meters high and 11 meters in diameter.

Within the park there is also the mount whitney, The largest summit in the United States outside the territory of Alaska, with a height of 4.418 meters.

Other places of interest are the Kern River Canyon and Crystal cave, a marble cavern.

What to see and do when visiting Sequoia National Park

La park entrance It is the typical booth where the entrance is paid and where we are informed that, due to works on the main road (and access road to the area where the redwoods are located), a passage had been established with a change of direction every hour alternately. .

They recommended that we visit the Visitors Center from the park.

As generally happens in this country, in the Visitors Center They serve you very kindly and offer you the information you need according to your intentions and expectations.

How to See Bears in Sequoia National Park

They also informed us that There are free bears throughout the park.

We were recommended not to leave food visible, nor emit the smell of food from inside the car because the bears could approach it and try to open it in their own way, of course.

They also recommended that if a bear appeared to us, the best thing we could do was stay still and motionless, since this way generally nothing happens and they eventually leave.

The word that worried us the most in this entire recommendation was “generally".

What to see in the Sequoia National Park Visitor Center

In our Visit of the Visitor Center, through very clear graphics and murals we were able to have an overview of the park.

Thus we had information about its history and aspects related to the fauna, flora, geological characteristics, bears, Indian tribes of the area, etc...

Honestly, it's worth spending a few minutes to capture the essence of where we are.

In all the National Parks There are also some guides, generally young people. scouts, that if you want, in exchange for a tip, they can explain what interests you most.

These guides are known as rangers.

Since we still had time before they opened the highway in our direction of travel, we stopped at a place that they had recommended we visit.

Castle Rock Rock Formations

It was called Castle Rock, from where various hiking trails started, and where you can see some peculiar rock formations.

We walked around this area for a while contemplating the high peaks of this mountain park and its large and infinite forests.

When we parked the car in this place, shocked by the possible appearance of a bear friend, we took the gum and candy from the car and hid them next to the left rear wheel.

We thought that if the smell of the chewing gum attracted a bear, it was better to leave the delicacy outside so that it would not destroy our vehicle, which would have ruined our trip.

Finally, no bears or anything, we recovered the gum and continued walking.

The journey was still long, about 20 miles along the interior roads of the park, until reaching the area where the giant sequoias.

The road was the typical beautiful zigzagging mountain road, beautiful, with formidable views of the lush valleys and high peaks.

How and where to see General Sherman in Sequoia National Park

As we approached the redwood forest, the road became denser and these giant trees began to appear, little by little.

We left the car in a parking area, and began our fantastic walk through said forest following the path towards the largest sequoia in the world, the so-called General Sherman.

It was overwhelming to see those trees!! We felt in a way like gnomes that live in the forest.

There are few words to describe these trees, immense, old, hard, like the General Sherman, who has been on this Earth since 200 years before Christ.

!! It is very strong!!

Many formidable sensations in our visit to sequoia national park, given everything we saw, which really seemed like a movie, like an unreal dream.

We returned to our formidable hotel, and after some restorative showers, the four of us had dinner in our room, tired, but satisfied with this beautiful day of enjoyment in those forests, whose trees make you feel small, very small.

For reasons of dates, we had decided a few days ago to dispense with the visit of the Yosemite National Park, and head directly towards San Francisco.

We already had a great argument to return to California: visit Yosemite.