I can't believe I've lived in California my entire life and never visited the Sequoias until now…read more It was such an amazing experience. The weather was perfect, and the trails were incredible. This place is absolutely stunning. I hope to come back someday. 1/11/25

I decided to go see the Trailer of 100 Giants. It had signs. There was a $12.00 fee. They had an…read morearea where you can drop in the envelope. There are signs with descriptions in regards to the trees. Part of the trail was closed. Overall, it was great to see the sequoias. There also is a gift shop nearby with souvenirs and some snacks.

The Needles tower was on fire on the year 2011. The location…read morefor the lookout was strategically placed there because of the view of the entire region. No charge hiking this place, and there's a bathroom near the parking. There's actually a ranger in the lookout during the summer to watch over the forest. It opens around 9am. Elevation: 8,254 ft. From Quaking Aspen Campground, make a left on Route 21S05 from Western Divide Highway (about a mile) Then must drive about 3 miles over dirt road until the dead end for parking. The trail entrance is on the left side. According to the sign, it's a 5-mile roundtrip, but if you want to get to the fire lookout, it's about extra few more miles, all uphill and boulder-climbing. Coordinates: 36.119746, -118.508499q

It is like a heaven, if you spend the night there is even better. You should see the moonrise when…read moreit comes out behind the mountain you feel like it is very close to you. Good for fishing, hiking, camping, horse riding, hunting more and more. Good place to spend the weekend.

Sometimes I forget that I grew up on an old cattle ranch. There are a set of twin lakes (more like…read moreponds) that are @ the end of my street. Growing up my bros and I would go biking, fishing, or exploring around these lakes. There is a cute tackle shop that is ran by the family that owns it & there are cute fishing huts that are good for fishing in or hide and ghost seek.

Always love walking here, the cute cows come out in the summer and at sunset the bunnies come out!read more

A great place to hike and bring your dog. I went here after work, so I could get some fresh air. I…read morespent over an hour just exploring.

I don't know how to even describe this park, maybe, magical... The sequoias are majestic with sugar…read morepines sprinkled all around. I was here with the Sisters Corp. to do some volunteer work. I did not want to miss the opportunity to give my time for this beautiful place. This is my first time to visit this National Park and I know now it will not be my last. My first day at the volunteer camp group site as we gathered at the table to meet each other and go over the agenda for the weekend we had the opportunity to see a black bear casually roam through our campground near the tents (one of them was mine). We were all informed prior to arriving not to leave any scented items in the tents. No one wonder the bear kept moving along, but with the help of our camp host shooing it away from the campground. This is something we learned from the rangers, is to shoo them away so they don't get in the habit of coming around. The park offers many hiking trails, I had the chance to do one of many, which was the Long Meadow Trail. Very beautiful, plenty of foliage and evidence of a bear in the area. Another part of the park I got to visit was General Sherman. There is a park ranger that will tell you the history of the General Sherman tree. You can wait in a long line to take a pic in front of the tree with a General Sherman sign. Or you can take a pic around the fenced majestic tree. I choose not to wait in line. I had the chance to shuttle to General Sherman tree from the Museum. The Shuttle is free and seems to come every 10-15 min. From General Sherman I also shuttled to the Lodgepole marketplace and visitor center. In this area are bathrooms with showers (coin operated, quarters). The Marketplace has an area to order some food and also a section where you can purchase some ice cream by the scoop. The store offers assorted ice cream bars. The visitor center offers gift items as well as the marketplace. At the front of the visitor center they had a ranger available at a booth if you had any questions. This place is quite busy! Parking lot is a madhouse. Nearby is a campground you may want to check out or ask the ranger for some info. If you can, arrive early, find parking at the Museum and shuttle to everything if you can. Warning, when I was doing volunteer work in the parking lot across from the museum we witnessed a black bear enjoying some berries in the bushes. I'm not sure if they will venture into the parking lot with a lot human activity going on but be careful what you leave in your car, anything and everything with a scent. The park has so much to see. I look forward to returning to volunteer and to take advantage of what the park has to offer.

Best national park I've ever been to and that's saying a lot…read more It's magical, and I highly recommend getting to the Sherman trailhead prior to 9:30am if you want a parking spot. Takes about an hour to get in there, up there and parked so plan accordingly. The congress trail was amazing and for a 3.5 mile hike it took about 2.5 hours with frequent stops for pictures. Highly recommend a stop at lodge pole for refreshments and merch. Incredible experience from start to finish.

This place was literally such a gem for me and my family…read more My husband,brother, and I fished off some rocks, while our kids and my mom played by the large rocks a little further from the water . We packed lunches and ate by the water which was relaxing

Glad we stopped here for a look see during our overnight stay...it was a perfect way to wind down…read moreafter a long drive from Redondo Beach. The sunset was just an hour away so we had time to explore the area, walk to the river, enjoy the sound of the rushing water and snap photos of pretty scenery. You could easily spend a couple hours here picnicking, frolicking in the river or walking the area stopping every once in a while to gaze at the wildflowers and wilderness around you. Parking is easy (don't forget to pay the nominal fee) and DO bring a flashlight if you plan on staying past sunset...it's dark in them thar hills, canyons, wherever you are. Lovely to enjoy the silence, snap some photos and enjoy the sunset.

Such a spectacular view. While camping totally off grid this is a magnificent and beautiful way to…read morenot only see the surrounding area but to check in at home. The phones work up there.

What can I say about this amazing breathtaking peaceful spots. If you haven't been out to Dome…read moreRock , please make it a point to go, you will literally be speechless with the view before you. Hearing the wind blow between the trees sounds like there's a river running at your feet. Once you are there all you want to do is stare out and breathe in the beauty God has created for all of us to enjoy.

We visited Crystal Cave on Monday, June 8, 2026, and had a fantastic experience. Our guide, AJ, was…read morefabulous--knowledgeable, engaging, and made the tour both fun and informative. The walk down to the cave is about a half-mile and fairly steep, but it's absolutely worth it. The beautiful waterfall along the trail was an unexpected highlight and made the hike even more enjoyable. Crystal Cave itself is amazing and well worth the visit. The formations are incredible, and the tour provides fascinating insight into the cave's history and geology. The ticket price is very reasonable, and knowing that the proceeds help support conservation and educational programs makes it even better. I highly recommend Crystal Cave to anyone visiting the area! Maybe you'll be lucky snd AJ will be your guide too!

Crystal Cave was closed for 4 years for renovations and reopened last season. We made reservations…read morefor this year as soon as they opened the roster. My boyfriend is very interested in exploring different caves & caverns and I thought this would be a fun weekend getaway for us. There is a long trail down to the mouth of the cave, the decent is not too bad, but it is quite a trek back up. The trail is about half a mile to the cave opening and half a mile back up. When you check in for your tour (tickets are not sold at the cave and must be purchased in advance) they go over some safety information and tour information. The staff has you cleanse the soles of your shoes prior to heading down to the cave to help prevent white nose syndrome to the bats that inhabit the cave. On the trail down there are many beautiful sights including waterfalls. I would recommend stopping at the sights on the way back up when breaks from the steep trail will be needed. The trail back up is not the most difficult we have endured, but it is up there on the list due to the steepness of the path. There is a large area at the mouth of the cave for the tour group to gather with the guide who is waiting at the gate for you. No items besides cameras and plastic water bottles are permitted within the cave and must be left outside the gate during your 50 minute cave tour. There is a large gate that the guide will unlock and you will walk through to enter the cave. The gate is a huge spiderweb with a large spider in the center, it was really wicked. Crystal Cave has crystal clear water running through it, you could see the marble that is natural there that the water has washed out over the years, as well as many stalagmites & stalactites, cave bacon, cave popcorn and many other interesting formations that have taken hundreds of thousands of years to form. Among the many caverns & caves we have toured this one was very different with the marble and flowing water within. Shirley was our tour guide, and though she was new she was so passionate and knowledgeable about the cave!

Not going to lie, this hike unexpectedly really beat me up. I intended to do the entire loop but…read morewas just so exhausted/overwhelmed when I woke up that I ended up turning back, although I took a different way back. I only made it to Lake 3 but to be fair, it started heavily pouring with intermittent thunder and lightning. The elevation gain destroyed me with my 20+ pound backpack, but I eventually made it to Lake 3 where I joined 2 other girls who basically adopted my clueless self. It is beautiful but perhaps would have been better without the cloudy skies. Overall, I would do this trip again but with more training!!

The Cottonwood Lakes are a series of 5 lakes in the high Eastern Sierra Nevada at about 11,000'…read moreelevation where you can catch California golden trout. This is a great place to camp out if you are looking for a place to acclimate before doing a high altitude hike such as Whitney. For convenience, you can just camp out at the trailhead which is at 10,000'. It takes about an hour to get from the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead to the Whitney Portal. I arrived here on July 3rd in the afternoon and spent one night and the following day fishing and hiking the area as a warmup to Whitney, which I was hiking on July 5th. Ultimately, I did not have any altitude sickness issues beyond a very mild headache which I could treat with ibuprofen. From the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead, the Cottonwood Lakes are about 5.5 miles away, so 11 miles roundtrip. Cottonwood Lake #3 is the largest of the five, and I ended up catching all my trout here. However, I didn't spend much time, if any, at the other lakes due to time constraints. I caught 4 trout in about an hour and a half. It's a very beautiful area, with large open meadows and lots of wildlife. I saw a deer and a pair of coyote while hiking to the lakes. There are also hordes of mosquitos so be sure to bring powerful mosquito repellant. Cottonwood Lakes can also be the midpoint in a hike to Mt. Langley, but that's another review.

I live here in Bakersfield for almost two years the fishing sucks even way up here in the kern…read moreriver I fished all the way up from the bridge all the way down from the river no fish I used flies and everything else and nothing. but the scenery is beautiful and dangerous at the same time really rocky if you want to catch fish try the kings river and upper kings there's lots of life in that river and wild life everywhere all year round up there take the 99 hwy to the 180 hwy it's a drive but worth it

LOVED IT ! Awesome spot right on the Kern River on your way to johnsondale and the trail of 100…read moreGiants