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Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Provide Updates to Estimated Reopening Dates Ahead of the Memorial Day Weekend
SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS, Calif., 11 May 2023 – Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks personnel continue to make progress with snow clearing, damage repairs, and all the various tasks associated with recovering from a historic winter season. Memorial Day weekend is the usual kick-off to summer in the parks, but unfortunately this year, access to the world’s largest tree (by volume)and the surrounding Giant Forest and Lodgepole area won’t be open in time.
Along the Generals Highway between Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park and Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park there are two sites with severe road damage. Crews were able to access one site last week and make temporary repairs to restore administrative traffic flow. This week crews made it to the second site. Based on repair assessments and snow clearing that still needs to happen, with only a couple weeks left before the holiday weekend, the difficult decision was made to postpone the reopening.
We encourage visitors to explore areas that are open this upcoming holiday weekend.
Current status and projected reopening timeframes as of May 11:
Sequoia National Park
The Foothills area between the Sequoia entrance station and Hospital Rock – CURRENTLY OPEN
Access to lower elevation camping, trails, wildflowers, wilderness, rivers, and more. No access to giant sequoias.
Area Advisory:
Rivers are very cold and very swift with fresh snowmelt. The soil near and along the rivers is wet and unstable. It can collapse unexpectedly under the weight of people, including children, and result in falls into the river.
You may experience short delays in areas where the road is restricted to one-lane traffic flow due to road construction.
The Giant Forest/Wolverton/Lodgepole/Wuksachi Areas
Access to giant sequoias, the General Sherman Tree, camping, lodging, wilderness, Moro Rock, Tunnel Log, and more.
Access via Highway 180 through the Kings Canyon entrance station
- Estimated Reopening: June 2 – June 9
Access via Highway 198 through the Sequoia entrance station
- Estimated Reopening: July 1
Crystal Cave
Closed for 2023 due to significant road damage along Crystal Cave Road.
Mineral King
Due to severe road damage along the Mineral King Road both inside and outside the park boundary, no vehicular public access is anticipated before August, and likely to be later. Other types of access will be assessed in June after Tulare County completes temporary repair work and park personnel can go in and assess damage within the park boundary.
Kings Canyon National Park
Grant Grove – CURRENTLY OPEN
Access to giant sequoias, the General Grant Tree, winter snowplay, camping, lodging, restaurant, trails, and more.
Cedar Grove
Due to severe road damage along the Highway 180 corridor, outside the park, between Grant Grove and Cedar Grove, Caltrans does not expect repairs to be completed before the end of the summer season. This means public access is not expected into the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon National Park for the 2023 summer season.
For trip-planning information and the most current park conditions, we urge visitors to visit our website at nps.gov/SEKI. Updates to the reopening schedule are made on the Current Conditions web page weekly on Thursday afternoons.
[SOURCE: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks]