Natural History Wanderings

Leadership from the parks, in partnership with Tulare County and Caltrans, hosted a public meeting last night at which the parks shared their current estimated time frames for reopening various areas to the public. Roads and facilities in the parks have been badly damaged by the recent major winter storms.

Given all the unknown variables, the current projected reopening timeframes are as follows:

Kings Canyon National Park

Grant Grove (Access to giant sequoias, the General Grant Tree, winter snowplay, camping, lodging, trails, and more)
Current Status: Closed
Estimated Reopening: April 14, contingent upon the completion of major road repairs outside the park along Highway 180 west of the park boundary

Cedar Grove (Access to wilderness, camping, lodging, river, waterfalls, trails, and more)
Current Status: Closed for the winter season
Estimated Reopening: Not currently available, as it is dependent upon the completion of major road repairs outside the park on Highway 180 between Grant Grove and Cedar Grove

Sequoia National Park
The Foothills area between the Sequoia entrance station and Hospital Rock Picnic Area (Access to lower elevation camping, trails, wilderness, rivers, and more. No access to giant sequoias)
Current Status: Closed
Estimated Reopening: April 7 – 14

The Giant Forest/Wolverton Snowplay Area/Lodgepole/Wuksachi Areas (Access to giant sequoias, the General Sherman Tree, winter snowplay, camping, lodging, wilderness, Moro Rock, Tunnel Log, and more)
Current Status: Closed
Access via Highway 180 through the Kings Canyon entrance station
Estimated Reopening: May 26- June 16
Access via Highway 198 through the Sequoia entrance station
Estimated Reopening: Sometime in June 2023

To watch the recorded presentation from last night’s public meeting, view the presentation slides, and see the full list of reopening projections visit www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/conditions.htm.