LOCATION – SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA

Living in California I am very lucky to have access to some of the most beautiful beaches, amazing cities, museums and entertainment venues in the world. But, the one thing that I think blows all that away, are the National Parks.

Map

Everyone knows Yosemite, but I think its close second has got to be Sequoia National Park. Maybe not quite as grand as Yosemite, its elevation range, mountains (Mt. Whitney stands at 14,505 feet – the tallest in the US) and most certainly the trees are much, much bigger.

Those trees. Just incredible!!

Notable for its giant Sequoia trees, including the General Sherman tree, the largest tree on Earth by volume, the General Sherman Tree grows in the giant forest which contains five of the ten largest trees in the world. They can be as tall as a 26-story building (over 300 feet) and their base diameter up to 45 feet exceeds that of many city streets!

It’s incredibly hard to describe the sheer size of these trees. When standing next to them, and craning you next way, way back just to catch a glimpse of the tops! 

You are then soon greeted with the main entrance for the National Park – I don’t know why, but I always love these signs at National Parks! The old Tunnel Rock entrance is cool too – there are some great photos online of old Model T fords driving through the rock arch – giant SUV’s of today would not fit at all!

There are a number of fantastic attractions within the park and I have found 2 or 3 days a good amount of time to stay and see everything. Some parts of the park are closed at different times of year for weather or maintenance, so check online before going to ensure there is no disappointment.

Sherman Tree Trail:

The main attraction! A very easy 0.8 mile round-trip trail that descends from the parking lot to the base of the General Sherman Tree and meanders through the magnificent groves of giant sequoia Trees.

There are a number of trails well worth checking out including General Sherman to the North, Giant Forest Museum to the West and Crescent Meadow to the South.

The General Sherman Tree is by far the most popular, but there are a number of equally impressive on the Congress Trail that branches off from here for a longer 1.9 mile walk that takes you up closer to and without the crowds to giant trees including President Tree or General Lee and the wonderful cluster of trees known as The Senate and The House.

These trees are very hard to photograph due to their size. I shot mostly with my Leica 21mm Super Elmar to get a wider perspective – and you can’t get even close to fitting them all in! I like to look straight up and capture the converging lines of the trunks and branches into the center.

Shooting the beautiful red colored wood trunks looks amazing too, and getting up close to the tiny moss that crawls over everything adds a new perspective as well. No matter what part of the year you are up there, revisiting at different times of the day can give very different weather conditions due to being so high up. The trees shrouded in fog early in the morning often gave way to perfect sunny conditions later in the day.  

Crescent Meadow Loop:

For a longer hike, the Crescent Meadow Loop is around 2 miles around a beautiful Sequoia rimmed meadow in the giant forest. Conservationist John Muir visited this location many times and called it the “Gen of the Sierra”. It’s also where Chris and I saw a bear up close and personal! We were trying to decide who we would sacrifice, or who could out run the other after we got closer for the photos!

Giant Forest Museum:

A very cool historic museum sits at the entrance to this trial built in 1928 and offers all sorts of interesting information about the giant trees and history of the forest. The trail is excellent too with a number of historical huts and fallen trees that you can walk through and see a very different perspective of these amazing giants.

Moro Rock:

The quintessential experience of the park is the giant forest, but Moro Rock offers the chance to climb above the peaks of the tree tops and survey the spectacular landscape above.

A huge granite dome located in the center of the park, a short, but quite tiring hike up the rock which is mostly stars carved into the side (Chris cried the whole way wanting me to carry him!). But there are loads of impressive photo opportunities to stop along the path and capture the rock in the foreground with the amazing view in the distance.

The views from the peak are also incredible and are especially good from late afternoon into the dusk and evening for golden and blue hours.

Tunnel Log:

On the way to Moro Rock to Crescent Meadow there is a fallen giant sequoia tree over the road. The tree which measured 275 feet tall and 21 feet in diameter, fell across the park road due to natural causes in 1937. Rather than trying to cut or remove the log, a crew the following year cut a tunnel through the trunk to make the road passable.

It makes for a great photo opportunity. Chris took a few of the rental car, not realizing I was doing a bunch of dumb stuff in the car and sold them on a stock photo page. So my idiot face is probably on a billboard someplace!

Accommodation:

There are not a lot of places to stay within the park, so make sure you book early, especially over the summer school vacation months. Both times I have visited, we stayed at Wuksachi Lodge which is a nice high-end motel-like place. It’s in a great location right in the middle of the park and has a good restaurant and gift store with the ability to order packed lunches to take out exploring for the day. 

Like most places Chris and I write about here on Photo Basecamp – the location articles we hope to be just a jumping off point for inspiration. National Parks in the US are huge. There are so many trails and little spots to discover and photograph along the way. Sequoia National Park is one of my favorites and I really hope this article helps to get you started on your next photo adventure when you are next visiting soCal.