Just five hours north of Los Angeles lies a national park that should be on your bucket list for outdoor activities.
It features a valley carved millions of years ago by glaciers, huge mountains made of granite and other rocks, countless waterfalls, huge ancient trees and a cool, clear river.
I know what you're thinking: “That sounds like Yosemite.” Better yet. It's like Yosemite, but shape Colder.
Kings Canyon National Park will give you the majestic outdoor respite you're dreaming of without all the busy trails, crowds, and park entrance traffic jams that accompany the Hollywood Boulevard of national parks. Just west of Fresno, this strip of paradise is an underrated local favorite, with cozy campgrounds, easy-to-hike day trails, plentiful backpacking opportunities, and swimming holes galore.
As I set out to write this story, I braced myself for the typical national park experience. As someone who once got into an accidental argument with another adult at Yellowstone National Park while trying to help my 5-year-old niece get a look at Old Faithful, I know all too well how chaotic crowds of tourists can get on my nerves.
But those crowds never materialized. Kings Canyon gets a fraction of the foot traffic that Yosemite does. Last August, Yosemite had nearly 594,000 visitors, and Kings Canyon had 81,000, according to federal data. At its busiest in June of last year, Kings Canyon had 126,000 visitors, representing just over a quarter of the visitors who came to Yosemite that month.
You might be wondering: Is Kings Canyon's scenery as majestic and mesmerizing? The short answer is yes, albeit a bit more rugged. Both parks feature towering granite mountains, beautiful rivers, and alpine meadows. But Yosemite's natural wonders have the manicured sheen of a famous name. Kings Canyon is its untamed, serene cousin. When I asked a ranger the name of a nearby cliff, he joked, “We don't name everything after Yosemite.” During my three-day stay, I heard several guests say, “This is like a laid-back Yosemite.”
To be fair, many of the best experiences you can have in Kings Canyon are in the backcountry and require some level of backpacking knowledge. But even if you're a newbie to camping, this guide outlines the different ways you can experience the park, whether from a cozy hostel or a great campsite.
This guide focuses on the Cedar Grove area of the park. After being closed for over a year due to major flooding, it reopened this summer. Its campgrounds are slowly opening up for reservations (more on how to do this below).
Enjoy your stay in this sleeping paradise. And enjoy Yosemite.
How to get there | Where to stay | What to pack | Safety from bears | Where to go on day hikes | Other activities
The South Fork of the Kings River flows through the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon National Park.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove/Los Angeles Times)
