Kings Canyon National Park

Kings Canyon National Park

Most people who visit Kings Canyon National Park go no farther than a 10-minute drive inside the entrance. They stop at Grant Grove, behold the stand of sequoias led by the 267-foot General Grant Tree and head home.

Not that these colossi aren’t impressive, but they are merely the beginning of one of the best outdoor family destinations in the West.

Drive on for 30 minutes through spectacular mountain vistas and you’ll enter the real Kings Canyon: Cedar Grove. Just getting here is an E-ticket ride on a road dangling thousands of feet above a gorge cut by the south fork of the Kings River. At the end of the road--there’s only one way in and out--rustic Cedar Grove remains as untouched by the hordes as it was when my family started coming here five decades ago. There’s no gas station. No cellphone service.

All the better to savor the serenity of a place that moved John Muir to write: “In the vast Sierra wilderness to the southward of the famous Yosemite Valley, there is a yet grander valley of the same kind.” He was marveling at Cedar Grove’s glacier-carved cliff faces, towering peaks and booming waterfalls.

With a 21-room lodge and four campgrounds, Cedar Grove is an all-ages favorite. It’s common to find three generations of families, and that includes mine. I grew up here watching blue jays scrap for leftovers and picking out flecks of fool’s gold from the Kings River.

Kids will find plenty of diversions away from cell and video screens, such as Roaring River Falls. The 40-foot cascade blows off a granite chute with the force of angry fire hydrants and explodes into the pool below with a deafening crash. It’s just a couple of hundred yards from the road.

Playgrounds don’t get more postcard perfect than Zumwalt Meadow, a lush, emerald grassland framed by Ponderosa pines and the cliffs of 8,717-foot North Dome and 8,504-foot Grand Sentinel. Take the kids on a self-guided walk around the 11/2-mile loop to learn about the animals, trees and Native Americans who once fished and hunted here. Bring a bathing suit in summer, because you’ll discover quiet spots for swimming and picnics.

With older kids, head out for a day hike on one of the many well-kept trails that lead to vantage points on canyon slopes or deeper into the backcountry. The most scenic--if everybody’s had their Wheaties--is the Mist Falls trail, an eight-mile trek through fern forests and pine grottoes and around boulders bigger than houses. The Kings River froths along the route as you wend your way to the falls, which can deliver a soaking from 100 yards. Other options include stalactite viewing at Boyden Cave and horseback riding.

Cedar Grove Lodge is the only noncamping accommodation in the valley. It’s a basic, cabin-style facility overlooking the Kings River, with a counter-service restaurant and market. The lodge is a short walk from the ranger station, where, in the summer, slide shows and sing-alongs give kids a taste of pre-Game Boy world audience participation under a canopy of stars more luminous than any you’ll find in Hollywood.--

WHERE TO STAY

TO LEARN MORE

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, www.nps.gov/seki.