Into The Woods of Sequoia National Park
We’ve always been amazed in various ways by each of the National Parks we visited, but Sequoia National Park is just so flabbergasting and startling. This was actually our second visit to the park so we could catch up from what was left out before, but even as our second visit, the astonishment during this trip was no less than the first time.
It’s quite common to feel small in front of Mother Nature, but most of the time we felt that way when we were looking at a very grand view from afar. When we walked towards the bottom of a giant sequoia and looked up, it is a completely different experience to be able to physically feel and touch a giant masterpiece created by Mother Nature through thousands of years of making.
General Sherman
Starting our visit to the most iconic stop in the park, The General Sherman sequoia tree. It is the largest known living single-stem tree by volume in the world, and estimated to be well over 2000 years old. This massive sequoia is protected by fence and has a designated photo spot built out, but even from distance away, it is still quite difficult to capture its entirety without a wide angle lens.
Congress Trail
A few steps away from the General Sherman, it is the trailhead of the Congress Trail. The trail itself is only about a 2 mile loop and is mostly paved, but this rather easy hike will take you to a whole other world that could go well beyond your imagination.
During our visit, the whole trail was still covered in snow so it definitely added some difficulties. But to see these giant trees in snow is actually one of our goals in this trip, and this snow forest is so much more than what we’ve expected, absolutely incredible and magical.
Big Trees Trail
You know what you can see here just by seeing the name of the trail. This roughly 1 mile loop trail is super easy to walk, completely flat and built with boardwalk. The loop takes you around a meadow in the center area so you will get to see some big trees surrounding it, you will also come across some giant rocks in this area. A relaxing hike that offers great views and requires minimal effort!
From Previous Visit
In our previous trip to the park during warmer weather, we also visited a few more stops that are often closed during winter seasons. If any of those stops below is a must see for you, make sure to check its status before you go.
Tunnel Log
When a giant sequoia tree fell and blocked the road, what’s more brilliant than turning it into a tunnel log that you can literally drive through! Who could imagined that we would have some much fun here that we circled back 3 times just to drive through this wood tunnel again and again.
Moro Rock
Sequoia trees are not the only fascinating thing in this park, the Moro Rock hike was both fun and thrilling to us. This short but rather steep hike was built based on a large granite dome that consists of 400 steps one way, some parts of the trail was so steep and narrow that you would need to hold tight to the handrail to proceed.
When you reach the top of the rock, you will come to a stunning 360 degree panoramic summit view, but if you look down from there, the high altitude will likely make your heart pump quicker than usual. It was a foggy day during our visit so visibility was not at its best, but we were still impressed with this whole “rock climbing” experience.
