Jump to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

Surly Horns

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

Featured Replies

We're taking the great western family trip this summer to see Sequoia & Kings Canyon National parks.  I think we've settled on the Three Rivers area as our base.  What are your must see spots?  I'm also looking for recs on good, nearby food, beer, etc.

TIA, I'll hang up & listen....

I laughed ^^^ 

River view restaurant in three rivers is a good chill spot...and obviously get a spot on patio for the river view

And when you are in kings canyon the restaurant/lodge at the very end of the road is a good spot for lunch by river (take food to riverside picnic tables)

 

Big trees. Morro Rock has a short hike to get to a nice viewpoint. There's a tour through Crystal Cave. Really not a big multiday thing. Drive car under big tree. Climb on big tree. Walk around big big big tree. If you're lucky there will be some weirdo feeling the life force of the trees or something.

Bakersfield has some Buck Owens thing.

Boron has a big Boron mine. Small diversion to have a look from a distance. Also get some free boron crystals, that will go to shit in the Texas humidity. 

 

As for the sites if you are there for atleast 3 days you can see everything minus hiking into back country

 

I did the cave tour...will be a uphill hike after to get back...but i would recommend (pro tip be the one to volunteer to have the flashlight in back of group) then you get to be last in group out of room and people wont be in your pics 

Seriously, though, make sure you see General Sherman, and walk around the woods there.

5 minutes ago, miguelito said:

Seriously, though, make sure you see General Sherman, and walk around the woods there.

This.  I did it in the winter (although it was a fairly warm day in the 60's) and there was no one for miles.  I was so isolated I actually thought that I could get lost if not careful and could get in trouble (made damn sure I knew from whence I came and would go back to).  Absolutely awesome that General Sherman area.

Be advised that Redwoods kind of come in 2 types:  the thicker trunks, and the taller, slightly thinner variety.  The former is in Yosemite and Sequoia and more inland, the latter in Muir Woods and other coastal parks/reserves.  Even the coastals are really big (wide) but the inland ones, holy shit some of them are half the width of a medium sized house.  Nothing like standing under a coastal Redwood and getting to a view were you can see up the length of the trunk.  There is no other view like it on earth, maybe in the universe.

Morro Rock is cool. Fantastic view. Some nice hikes. Bears. We saw two bears just driving in and then 2 more just in a couple hours while we were hiking around. People we met were incredulous, saying they'd been going there regularly for years and hadn't seen a bear yet. My dumbass wife (no pics) got within about 20 feet of one bear trying to take a pic of it. Seriously wtf. Holy shit. Luckily it didn't decide to rip us to shreds. 

Edited by wood

  • Author

Thanks for all the recs so far.  We definitely have Morro rock, Crystal Cave, & General Sherman on our list already.  

01) If you have a fear of heights, Morro Rock is out, but it is pretty damn cool.

02) hike, hike, hike.

03) the cave tour is nice and a good change of pace

04) the drive from the Three River Entrance to the big trees/forest  is long and windy, with lots of switchbacks. Once you go up the mountain, prepare to spend the whole day there. In and outs during the day makes no sense.

05) In Three Rivers there is a only one national hotel/motel  is the Comfort Inn. Perfectly OK, but nothing to write home about.

06) Three Rivers in the summer gets hot. The park once you hit elevation is cooler.

07) That restaurant on the river has nice views, but the food is meh. There is a pizza place that was alright. You cant afford to be too picky with your food options in Three Rivers.

08) The sheer size of the trees are amazing. 

09) bears, they got em.

10) Don't be a dick. Read the signs and stay off the restricted areas they are trying to preserve. Fucking Europeans.

Sequoia National Park is where I developed my irrational fear of bears.  

On 4/26/2018 at 10:37 PM, wood said:

My dumbass wife (no pics) got within about 20 feet of one bear trying to take a pic of it. Seriously wtf. Holy shit. Luckily it didn't decide to rip us to shreds. 

Unluckily it didn't rip your wife to shreds.

For the most part, these are nuisance bears. Don't leave anything in your car which could be construed as food (including suntan lotion, etc). 

The hard thing with any of these parks are the crowds. Start early. If you hike more than 100 yards from a parking spot, the crowds go down by 90%. Case in point, the Congress Trail, which is spectacular. Everyone want to jump out and take pictures with the General Sherman tree, but if you walk a bit you almost have the place to yourself. Almost. 

Note that it takes a long time to drive from deep within Sequoia to Kings Canyon - particularly if you are wanting to go the Cedar Grove area (which you should). The hiking there is similar to Yosemite - you need to hike up to get the views as you are in the valley. 

Moro rock pushes my vertigo - so I prefer the big/little baldy hikes. Maybe not as awe-inspiring, but I don't feel like I'm going to die (other than the slog to the top). 

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Spectacular.  I can't wait to go back.  They also replaced the park sign in your first pic like last week.

We just got back from Yosemite with a stop in SF, the Muir Woods, and Monterey. It definitely scratched the itch and made us want to go to more National Parks in the next few years. Will have to add this one to the list. 

Incredible place. Here's a few pics from my last trip in 2015. Saw a few bears in the meadow, which was cool. And there were some damn nice hikes too

IMG_0648.jpg

 

IMG_0654.jpg

IMG_0668.jpg

IMG_0702.jpg

IMG_0781.jpg

IMG_0790.jpg

9 hours ago, mdmost said:

We just got back from Yosemite with a stop in SF, the Muir Woods, and Monterey. It definitely scratched the itch and made us want to go to more National Parks in the next few years. Will have to add this one to the list. 

headed to SF on SAT and Muir Woods on MON.  How was the crowd at Muir Woods? My boss told me the line to the park was 2 miles long but I don't believe anything he says.

 

Did you get a parking reservation? You can buy one online which I would highly recommend.  https://gomuirwoods.com/muir/buy They have some spaces for Monday and it makes it a lot easier to get in as you go straight into the parking area. You avoid the overflow parking. We got there at 10:30 on a Wednesday and it wasn't bad. Stayed till 12:30. The biggest slowdown was some road work they were doing on Panoramic Highway. The kids loves the winding roads to get into that area. 

Muir Woods is easily in my top 5 places on this planet. Don't forget to head up to Marin Headlands and Battery Spencer so you get that great view of the Golden Gate Bridge and SF. 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Battery+Spencer/@37.8307392,-122.4885695,15.93z/data=!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x7aff587668ffaff9!2sMuir+Woods+National+Monument!8m2!3d37.8970199!4d-122.5811177!3m4!1s0x0:0x895d436665f57085!8m2!3d37.8277124!4d-122.4816625

35114623_10213872552746408_7158698897374

Edited by mdmost

1 hour ago, CooterBrown said:

headed to SF on SAT and Muir Woods on MON.  How was the crowd at Muir Woods? My boss told me the line to the park was 2 miles long but I don't believe anything he says.

 

Your boss is correct - it gets super packed during the summer although Monday should be somewhat better. If you're out there, make sure to trek over to Muir Beach and do the ocean side hike along the cliff and down to Pirates Cove. After that, head up the 1 to Stinson Beach for lunch at Sand Dollar Cafe. 

If you want to see redwoods but don't want to deal with crowds and strollers, Purisima State Park or Big Basin are good options time permitting. 

11 hours ago, mdmost said:

Did you get a parking reservation?

Sure did. We have a 9:30am parking reservation. 

  • 3 weeks later...
  • Author

Recently got back from the family trip. Those trees are absolutely magnificent. A trip to see them should be on everyone’s bucket list. Highlights included the Moro rock trail that starts at General Sherman, a day hike at the top of Mineral King, Crystal Cave, and a backcountry horse tour.

As mentioned, while it’s cool in the park at altitude, Three Rivers was hot as hell. Fortunately we had river access at our rental so we could cool off swimming in the afternoons.

In Three Rivers we enjoyed Ol’ Buckaroo for dinner, Sequoia Coffee Co. and Three Rivers Brewing. The grocery store is very limited, so if you want to do much if your own cooking I’d recommend hitting a bigger store on your way in.

Here’s some pics.

Swimming hole
f0a79c6a9840d997bac0d8842e7b26f1.jpg

Crystal Cave
105fe5728a5dbd0d6d4f5bf5febea61e.jpg

Mineral King
2fc646c870ed64400fd48b8c9e027962.jpg

Sequoias
1a7ef80619f33a3dfdc7dfb013268eb3.jpg
cf0927582cc9fa83230aaee2c50ce6d8.jpg8d04905aefc5045db77d08470bd3ca44.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Author
1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

 The size does not translate in photos.

That's what I was thinking as I posted photos.  You really have to see them in person.

  • 4 weeks later...

was there last week, mostly in kings canyon. there was a lot of smoke. there were also a lot of people that got sent there when yosemite was evacuated. even though the park was at capacity, once we got over 500 yards onto any trail we didn't see many people at all. everyone was at the roadside attractions like moro rock and general sherman. the smoke was not cool for good views of the canyon, but it did make for some interesting sunsets. 

21c3bbbdc92766b6ae32051a5a2365c0.jpg0cf5489147f83648307745f36a835913.jpg0997ef287db32905a5f15309a0f2f08a.jpgd5125988d5a0dad9e312706ff6c5366b.jpg3a54fb9cdec18d9cf82e7dd265edd313.jpg

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.