P D F Yosemite Sequoia , & Kings Canyon NATIONAL PARKS PDF ebook Edition 4th Edition Release Date April 2016 Pages 256 Useful Links Want more guides? Head to our shop Trouble with your PDF? Trouble shoot here Need more help? Head to our FAQs Stay in touch Contact us here © Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. To make it easier for you to use, access to this PDF ebook is not digitally restricted. In return, we think it’s fair to ask you to use it for personal, non-commercial purposes only. In other words, please don’t upload this chapter to a peer-to-peer site, mass email it to everyone you know, or resell it. See the terms and conditions on our site for a longer way of saying the above – ‘Do the right thing with our content’. 4 easy-to-use How to Use This Book sections Look for these symbols to quickly identify listings: 1 4 Sights Sleeping 1 r 5 Beaches Eating 2 6 PLAN YOUR TRIP Activities Drinking C 3 Courses Entertainment Your planning tool kit T 7 Photos & suggestions to help Tours Shopping you create the perfect trip. z Festivals 8 Information & Events & Transport All reviews are ordered in our authors’ preference, starting with their most preferred option. Additionally: 2 Sights are arranged in the geographic order that we suggest you visit them and, within this order, by author preference. ON THE ROAD Eating and Sleeping reviews are ordered by price range (budget, midrange, top end) and, within these Your complete guide ranges, by author preference. Expert reviews, easy-to-use maps & insider tips. These symbols and abbreviations give vital information for each listing: Must-visit recommendation Sustainable or green recommendation 3 No payment required % Telephone number f Ferry UNDERSTAND h Opening hours j Tram p Parking d Train Get more from your trip n Nonsmoking a pt apartments Learn about the big picture, to a Air-conditioning d double rooms make sense of what you see. i Internet access d m dorm beds W Wi-fi access q quad rooms s Swimming pool r rooms v Vegetarian selection s single rooms E English-language menu ste suites 4 c Family-friendly tr triple rooms # Pet-friendly tw twin rooms g Bus SURVIVAL GUIDE Your at-a-glance reference For symbols used on maps, see the Map Legend. Vital practical information for a smooth trip. ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon NATIONAL PARKS Yosemite National Park p44 Around Yosemite National Park p134 Around Sequoia Sequoia & & Kings Canyon Kings Canyon National Parks National Parks p195 p158 THIS EDITION WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY Beth Kohn, Sara Benson P LAN ON THE ROAD YOUR TRIP Welcome to Yosemite, YOSEMITE NATIONAL Sights ................97 Sequoia & Kings Canyon. . 4 PARK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Yosemite Valley . . . . . . . . . . 97 Yosemite, Sequoia & Day Hikes .............52 Glacier Point & Kings Canyon Map .......6 Badger Pass . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Yosemite Valley . . . . . . . . . . 52 Wawona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Yosemite, Sequoia & Glacier Point & Kings Canyon Top 16 .....8 Badger Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Big Oak Flat Road & Tioga Road . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Need to Know ..........16 Wawona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Tuolumne Meadows . . . . . 113 Big Oak Flat Road & What’s New ............18 Tioga Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Hetch Hetchy . . . . . . . . . . 116 If You Like… ............19 Tuolumne Meadows . . . . . . 65 Sleeping ..............117 Month by Month ....... 22 Hetch Hetchy . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Eating & Drinking .....126 Overnight Hikes ....... 72 Itineraries ............ 24 Yosemite Valley . . . . . . . . . . 73 AROUND YOSEMITE Activities ............. 28 Glacier Point & NATIONAL PARK .. 134 Travel with Children .... 36 Badger Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 West of Yosemite .....136 Travel with Pets ........41 BTiiogg Oaa Rko Faldat . R . .o .a .d . .& . . . . . . 76 Highway 140 . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Highway 120 (West) . . . . . 138 Tuolumne Meadows . . . . . . 79 South of Yosemite Hetch Hetchy . . . . . . . . . . . 85 JOHN ALVES / GETTY IMAGES © DCORBooyrtihccuvkellidi nrnCe ggArli i mc..nt..gbi ... vi .n..i .t..gi ...e .&..s . .. . ... .... .... .... .... .... . ....98980067 (OFETBHiairasoiiskhdggth gaheCue wrParpnsmaao tsySrp . s ti . . .4 e& . . .1r . . . )rA . . . a.r . . . ..o . . ...u . . ...n . . ... . . .d.. . . . . .. . . . ... . . . ... . . . .111111444444000232 Horseback Riding . . . . . . . . 91 Bodie State Rafting & Kayaking . . . . . . 92 Historic Park . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Swimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Virginia Lakes . . . . . . . . . . 144 Fishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Lundy Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 YOSEMITE FALLS P103 Hang Gliding . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Lee Vining . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Boating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Mono Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 June Lake Loop . . . . . . . . 147 Campfire & Public Mammoth Lakes . . . . . . . . 148 SIERRALARA / GETTY IM PWCDrroioonwgstnsreah-rCmi lAol sSuc . tnk .ii .tvirn .iyt .g i .S e& .ks . i .i .n. .g. .. . . . . .. . . . ..999545 ALBAarnisokchueioesnnpd . t . . MB . . . .ra . .ims . .t . .mle . .co . .ot . .hn . . . .e . . . . . . . . . . 115532 AGES © Snowboarding . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Pine Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Snowshoeing . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Independence . . . . . . . . . . 155 Ice-Skating . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Manzanar National Snow Camping . . . . . . . . . . 97 Historic Site . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Sledding & Tubing . . . . . . . 97 Lone Pine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Mt Whitney . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARK P158 Contents UNDERSTAND SEQUOIA & KINGS Horseback Riding & The Parks CANYON NATIONAL Pack Trips . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Today ...............200 PARKS ........... 158 Rock Climbing . . . . . . . . . . 176 History ..............202 Fishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Day Hikes ............162 Geology .............208 Snow Sports . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Sequoia National Park . . 162 Sights ............... 178 Wildlife ...............213 Kings Canyon National Park . . . . . . . . . . 166 Sequoia National Park . . 178 Conservation .........220 Overnight Hikes ......169 Kings Canyon National Park . . . . . . . . . . 182 Sequoia National Park . . 169 Kings Canyon Sleeping .............185 National Park . . . . . . . . . . 169 Eating & Drinking .....192 Driving .............. 173 AROUND SEQUOIA SURVIVAL Other Activities .......175 & KINGS CANYON GUIDE Caving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 NATIONAL PARKS ..195 Swimming, Canoeing, Visalia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Clothing & Kayaking & Boating . . . . . 176 Three Rivers . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Equipment ...........224 Directory A–Z ........228 Transportation .......236 M ICHAEL LAWENKO DELA PAZ / GETTY IM IMHneadapel xtLh .e .g&.e .Sn.ad.f ..e..t..y.. ...................222544571 AGES © SPECIAL FEATURES Activities .............28 Travel with Children ....36 Travel with Pets ........41 Wildlife .............. 213 Clothing & Equipment ...........224 BRIDALVEIL FALL P104 ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd 4 Welcome to Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon With wild rock formations, astonishing waterfalls, unimaginably vast swaths of granite, humbling peaks and a four- season dance card, the Sierra Nevada is no less than perfect. Backcountry Bonanza Time Warps Spanning 400 miles across Central Cali- This region has a past both wide and deep. fornia, the Sierra Nevada encompasses Glaciers, although receding, gnaw at gran- dazzling mountain canyons and some of the ite shoulders as they have for millennia. highest peaks in the country. Trails lure you Prehistoric forests loom and the volcanic to verdant valleys of wildflowers and deso- forces that moved these mountains to life late lightning-prone pinnacles. Bears tear still rumble underfoot and in simmering open logs, marmots whistle in warning, and hot springs. Trails show the routes taken crickets and frogs harmonize to a nightly by indigenous Californians – the Sierra fever pitch. Something about spending time Miwok, the Paiute and the Shoshone – who in the wilderness resets your brain. You traded between the western foothills and step back, assess the situation with fresh the Eastern Sierra; grinding stones and eyes and put things into perspective. Maybe ancient petroglyphs have endured. Pioneers it has something to do with the timeless- discarded mining camps to the elements, ness of the landscape – the ancient glaciers creating desolate ghost towns and the re- or the glow of the lakes at dusk and dawn. mains of forgotten railway lines. Peak Season Winter Wonderland Punctuated with fairy-tale spires, knobby For solitude and serenity, winter rules. Sum- domes and talus-encrusted mountaintops, mer may be high season, but you might well admiring all the Sierra Nevada scenery question why. The peaks are some of the might just put a crick in your neck. A jaunt highest in the US, regularly rising above through Yosemite Valley is a ticker tape 11,000ft, occasionally reaching 14,000ft, and parade of granite skyscrapers, with Half blanketed by snow for much of the year. Snow Dome taking a deep bow. Tempestuous Mt paints the trees and splatters the mountains. Whitney lords over the south, and the for- There’s full-moon snowshoeing and cross- mations visible from Tuolumne Meadows – country adventures, plus the chance to camp the jagged apex of Cathedral Peak, the pale under a giant sequoia. Go swooshing across wedge of Lembert Dome and the spiky crest the hushed backcountry, barreling down of Unicorn Peak, to name but a few – are some powdery slopes, or just stay inside and certain to fuel your dreams. warm your toes by a roaring wood fire. 5 JEFFREY M URRAY / GETTY IM AGES © Why I Love Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon By Beth Kohn, Writer Anytime I have a few spare days, I pull out my road atlas and hiking maps and start scheming up a new Sierra Nevada adventure. Snow camping under the giant sequoias? Hiking a creek canyon blazing with fall aspens? Searching for (and swimming in) the bluest lake in the High Sierra? I could spend a lifetime exploring this area and I’d never tire of its hidden waterfalls, starry nights, bear cubs, natural hot springs, coyote cries, ski slopes and 10,000ft mountain passes, and the amazing people I always meet along the way. For more about our writers, see page 256 Above: Cathedral Peak (p67), Yosemite National Park st e km40miles20 ELEVATIONrk12,000ft10,000ft8000ft6000ft4000ft2000ft1000ft0 Mono Lakeherworldly spires ofer-ringed tufa (p146) Tuolumne MeadowsHigh country wildflowersand peaks (p113) Ancient Bristlecone Pine ForA wizened, high-altitude grove (p154) White Mountains ace AncientBristleconePine Forest en0#0 die State Historic PaHaunting ghost-townruins (p144) Humboldt-ToiyabeNationalForest Otwat InyoNationalForest LakeCrowleyTom's Pl\# Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyoc Walker\#Yosemite High SierraNECampsVCAComfy tent cabins (p125)ADLIABoFOCarson-IcebergRSonoraWildernessNStanislausIJunctionNationalA\#ForestBridgeportReservoir BridgeportHalf Dome\#SA hike or an obsession (p104)iBodie\#errEmigrantHoovera WildernessWildernessN e v a#÷d YosemiteaMonoNationalEl CapitanLakeParkLeeYosemite Valley’s iconic reViningvibig wall (p105)R\#LembertenmDomeu(9450ft)louRT LyBadger PassellThe heart of Yosemite’sCaJune Lakewinter (p107)n\#El CapitanHalf DomeyRo(7569ft)(8842ft)Rn#YderceVernal &rElPortalveMammoth\#NevadaiMR cFallsLakesBadger\#RPass(7477ft)MammothMariposa GroveMountainCanopy of towering ancient (11,007ft)Mariposasequoias (p109)GroveMist Trail#æStaircase falls surge in Mariposa\#Fish Campspringtime (p55)\# Bishop\# BigPine \# Zumwalt MeadowPeaceful boardwalk rambles and birds (p184) Inyo Mountains Independence\# Mt Whitney(14,505ft)RreviRnreK Whitney & the JohnMuir Trailrom park to park (p157) Mt ke f John MuirWilderness Sie r r a N e v a d a KingsCanyon#÷ParkNational John MuirWildernessKingMonarchs RiverWildernessKingsCanyonCedar GroveGrantGroveZumwaltVillageRMeadow\#o aring RivRedwoodeBadger\#rCanyonCrystalCave#÷#æGiant#æForestSequoiaNationalPark Giant Foresteet the planet’s biggest Hitrees (p178) M r \#Oakhurst SierraNationalForest ShaveLake MillertonLake Pine FlatReservoir Kings Canyon Scenic BywayExplore North America’sdeepest canyon (p183)#\Fresno Crystal Cavemarble beauty buried underground (p175) VisaliaHanford\#\# A San Joaquin Valley ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd 8 Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon’s Top 16