Spring in California’s Sequoia Country

SPRING IN CALIFORNIA’S SEQUOIA COUNTRY

ON BIG BLEND RADIO: From giant sequoia trees and wildflowers to seasonal events and family activities, hear about what to experience in Early Spring in Tulare County, California. Featured guests from the Sequoia Tourism Council include Sintia Kawasaki-Yee – Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Suzanne Bianco – Visit Visalia, and Cassidy Collins – Tulare Chamber of Commerce. Watch here in the YouTube player or download the podcast on Acast.

The region makes for a fabulous vacation offering a variety of outdoor activities, a calendar full of events and festivals, and an eclectic selection of shopping and dining opportunities in the local gateway communities of Visalia, Three Rivers, Exeter, Tulare, Dinuba, and Porterville. East of Fresno, the area is an easy 4-5 hour drive from the San Francisco Bay Area and 3-4 hours from Los Angeles. See www.DiscovertheSequoias.com.

Kings Canyon National Park – Located in the southern Sierra Nevada region, and spanning 461,901 acres, the park is made up of mostly wilderness, forests and spectacular canyons, with Kings Canyon itself being one of the deepest canyons in the United States. The park is known for being home to the General Grant Grove of giant sequoia trees, the famous General Grant Tree, and the Redwood Mountain Grove which is the largest remaining natural grove of giant sequoias in the world. Starting in late spring or early summer, you can enjoy babbling brooks and waterfalls offset by towering granite cliffs, as well as lush meadows and glacial canyons. Located in the Cedar Grove area in the eastern portion of the park, Zumwalt Meadow Trail is a partially accessible and popular family-friendly 1.5-mile trail that circles the lush meadow, leads you through shaded forest areas, and offers stunning views of high granite walls and dramatic cliffs. Learn more at (559) 565-334 or www.NPS.gov/seki.

Sequoia National Park – One of the first parks in the country, Sequoia NP is famous for its giant sequoia trees and black bears. Visit the General Sherman Tree (the largest living organism and tree in the world), climb Moro Rock, take in spectacular views of Mt. Whitney (the highest mountain in the contiguous 48 states), and hike through glacial canyons, lush meadows thick with wildflowers, and explore oak woodlands. The scenery is spectacular, offering a rich diversity of bird, plant and wildlife. Covering 404,064 acres, there are hundreds of streams, ponds, rivers, creeks and lakes, and over 200 marble caverns to explore. Crescent Meadow and Big Trees Trail offer wonderful spring and early summer wildflower, bird and wildlife viewing. Tokopah Falls Trail is a wonderful 1.7 mile spring hike along the north bank of the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River, leading to the 1,200-foot cascading waterfall.

Big Trees Trail is a 2/3 mile (1 km) paved, accessible trail for all ages and activity levels, that circles around lush Round Meadow, near Giant Forest Museum in Sequoia National Park. Hear you can experience the largest trees in the world by volume, the Giant Sequoias, along with wildflowers, a variety of birdlife, butterflies and dragonflies, and wildlife such as squirrels and chipmunks, black bear and deer. Learn more at (559) 565-334 or www.NPS.gov/seki.

Sequoia National Forest & Giant Sequoia National Monument – Featuring 33 groves of giant sequoia trees, the Sequoia National Forest is home to the biggest concentration of giant sequoia groves. These groves are protected within the Giant Sequoia National Monument, which encompasses over 353,000 acres of diverse landscape, including two wild and scenic rivers, lakes, and six wilderness areas. Along with the magnificent giant sequoias, the area boasts lush forest meadows and a myriad of plant, bird and animal species. There are limestone caverns to explore and granite domes and spires to see, along with archaeological sites. The activities are endless and include hiking and camping, mountain biking, horse riding, bird and wildlife watching, and spring whitewater rafting. When it comes to viewing the Giant Sequoias, one of the more popular and easy-to-reach groves is on the Trail of 100 Giants in the Long Meadow Grove, which is estimated to have trees that are approximately 1,500 years old in growth. This 1.3 mile trail is paved and accessible, with several loop options, interpretive signs as well as the impressive site where two giant sequoias fell in 2011. Located on Western Divide Highway (107) across the road from Redwood Meadow Campground, the road to the Trail of 100 Giants is only accessible during the later spring and summer months. Learn more at (559) 784-1500 or www.FS.USDA.gov/sequoia.     

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