Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks 4

259 Pages·2016·16.62 MB·English

by  Lonely Planet

P
D
F
Yosemite Sequoia
,
& Kings Canyon
NATIONAL PARKS
PDF ebook
Edition 4th Edition
Release Date April 2016
Pages 256
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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
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