Sequoia National Park
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Moro_Rock.jpg
Sequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Fresno, California. The park was the second national park to be formed in the USA, in 1890. The park spans 404,051 acres (1,635 km²).
The park is adjacent to Kings Canyon National Park; the two are administered by the National Park Service as one unit, called Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
The park spans a broad range in elevation: the Ash Mountain entrance is at 1700 ft (518 m) elevation, while approximately 35 miles (56 km) east, Mount Whitney attains 14,505 ft (4,421 m), the highest point in the continental USA.
The park is most famous for its Giant Sequoia trees, including the General Sherman tree, the largest tree on Earth. The General Sherman tree grows in the Giant Forest, which contains five out of the 10 largest trees (in terms of wood volume). The Giant Forest is connected by the park's Generals Highway to Grant Grove, home to General Grant tree among other sequoias. General Grant is within Kings Canyon National Park.
A hiker can start near Moro Rock, a granite promontory with drops of thousands of feet on both sides, and hike across the Sierra on the High Sierra Trail, eventually reaching Mount Whitney.
Other attractions in the park include:
- Tunnel Log, a fallen sequoia that automobiles can drive through;
- Crystal Cave, protected since 1918 and the only one of over 200 caves in the two adjoining parks which can be toured; and
- Crescent Meadow, a Sequoia-rimmed meadow that John Muir called the "gem of the Sierra".
Campgrounds in the park include three in the foothills area: Potwisha (42 sites), Buckeye Flat (28 sites), and South Fork (10 sites). Four campgrounds are at higher, conifer-dominated elevations, ranging from 6650 to 7500 feet: Atwell Mill (21 sites), Cold Springs (40 sites), Lodgepole (214 sites), and Dorst (204 sites).
See also
External links and references
- Sequoia National Park Webcam (http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/WebCams/parks/sekicam/sekicam.cfm)
- Official site: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park (http://www.nps.gov/seki/)
- Online map (http://www.sequoia.national-park.com/map.htm)
- QTVRs in Sequoia National Park (http://www.virtualparks.org/parks/sequoia-np-qtvr-map.html)
- Photos of Sequoia National Park - Terra Galleria (http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.sequoia.html)
- Photographic virtual tour of Sequoia National Park. (http://www.Untraveledroad.com/USA/Parks/Sequoia.htm)