Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Getting to Sequoia nat'l Forest

This is a non hiking related question, but this board is such a great resource for local information.

A friend of mine is coming to Lone Pine next week and wants to visit the big trees in Sequoia Nat'l Forest. I'm telling her it's a very long drive to get there from Lone Pine, the other side of Mt. Whitney.

Anyone have a 'shortcut' to get there or any recommendations? She'll be going to Zion Nat'l Park after.

Thanks,
Lance

WHere is she coming from? Could she visit either Zion or Sequoia first?

Or make it a loop and do the three on the west side.
Sequoia
Kings Canyon
Yosemite
catching Yosemite last ( or first ) as you're going over Tioga Pass.

She's arriving next weekend, driving from Vegas and already has hotel reservations in Lone Pine and Zion, then onto Bryce. She really wanted to do the Sequoia's as a day trip from LP, but i don't think she can without alot of driving.

you should use Google Maps, if not to see where each location is relative to each other, then to get an idea of the time it takes. if your friend wants to do a daytrip from Lone Pine to Sequoia NP, he/she is look at 9 hours of driving round trip going the southern route.

coming from Vegas to Lone Pine, go through the 190 so your friend can experience Death Valley.

The nearest thing to a shortcut would be over Tioga Pass, & that may not be open till July, considering this year's record snowpack. I think you'll need a friend with a plane!

If I read your post carefully, she wants to go to the Sequoia NATIONAL FOREST big trees, not to the park.
Long drive, probably about 3-4 hours each way, 14-178, north from Kernville to johnsondale to Quaking Aspen to the grove, open year around.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/gsnm/gsnm-belknap-grove.html

If going north from Kernville, check to see if the road is open to Johnsondale and beyond. Frankly, I'd be surprised if it is right now, but a call to the ranger station is in order.

Like others mentioned above, Sequoia would be a l-o-n-g drive for a day trip from the east side. Try to convince here to stay on the east side and visit some of its unique stuff - Mono Lake is really gorgeous with a little snow around it, the Mono Craters, Devils Postpile (if you can get there), the Volcanic Tablelands (N. of Bishop), Bristlecone Pine Forest (if accessable), Death Valley NP.

Sequoia Forest/NP would be better for a separate trip combined with a few other things in the west side Central Valley area - Yosemite, Mineral King, Kings Canyon NP, Pinnacles NM, Carrizo Plain NM, etc.

I want to thank everyone for their input and recommendations, it's appreciated!! I'll pass the info along and she can make her own decisions.

Lance

Right now she would have a hard time getting to any of the groves that aren't in the National Park. There is a lot of snow up there still and many of the roads are not plowed. The safest bet is the southern route through Tehachapi and up the 99 to 198 and Sequoia National Park. From Lone Pine you are looking at a minimum of 5 hours each way, realistically more like 6 hours each way since it takes about 1.5-2 hours to get up there from Visalia and around 4 hours to Visalia from Lone Pine. If she can add a day in it is doable, as a day trip not much fun.

I agree with KevinR since having lived in Kernville, the road past Johnsondale opens fairly late in the season. I do agree though if open it would be a very nice drive.

Tioga Pass is closed until possibly mid to late June due to the amount of precip received over the winter.

The southern route from LP to B-field to Sequoia is the only route.

If certain roads in Sequoia are closed, Mariposa Grove in Yosemite may be an option. SR 41 is clear all the way to the YNP entrance. You can park in the parking lot near the gate (first come, first serve) and walk past the locked gate. One-half of the road MG is void of snow all the way to MG.

There is still plenty of snow in MG and you may want to bring snowshoes or YakTrax.

Hope this helps.

Have fun...

The road in SNP is open but under construction. Here is the info page

http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/currentcond.htm

180 into KC was closed due to a rock slide but according to CalTrans is now open to the Hume lake gate, which is beyond the grove.

Well she's off today, I forwarded all the responses and she's decided not to drive over on this trip!

Thanks again to everyone who gave such great advice!

Lance