10 Best Things to do in Kings Canyon National Park in One Day

Kings Canyon National Park is one of the most underrated parks I’ve ever explored. Since it rests between Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, it often gets overshadowed by their popularity. Yet not only is this park a pefect blend of the other 2 places, but it’s also possible to explore a ton of things there in one day.

10 things to do:

1. Check out the Sequoia tree spots by the Kings Canyon entrance.
2. See Panoramic Point.
3. Do the entire Kings Canyon scenic byway (slowly).
4. See Boyden Cavern.
5. Stop at Grizzly Falls.
6. Check out Cedar Grove Overlook.
7. See Roaring River Falls.
8. Do the Zumwalt Meadow hike.
9. Finish at Road’s End, do the hikes there, then go back.
10. Enjoy the same Kings Canyon scenic drive back to the entrance.

Where to stay:

Best rated places to stay at near Kings Canyon

Hiking gear to bring:

• Best rated hiking shoes for day hikes (men/women sizes available)
• Best rated hiking backpack for day hikes
• Best rated hiking pole for day hikes

See the Sequoia trees (5 areas):

When you enter the park from road 180 (where I recommend you start), you’ll immediately see several Sequoia trees so whether or not you’re planning on seeing Sequoia National Park, the good news is that you’ll still be able to see them here and in fact, there are at least 5 areas within Kings Canyon NP which house a ton of Sequoia trees.

Areas where you can see Sequoia trees:

1. Big Stump Grove: One of the largest Sequoia trees in the whole region.
2. General Grant tree: My personal favorite place to see Sequoia trees in Kings Canyon.
3. Chicago Stump: A Sequoia tree that has been chopped off you can stand on top of.
4. Boole Tree: An open Giant Sequoia tree.
5. Redwood Mountain Grove: A bit out of the way from the Kings Canyon entrance, but it has tons of Sequoia trees and a good hike to check out.

All of these places are within a 20 minute drive from the entrance into the park.

See Panoramic Point:

Panoramic Point is basically next door to the Kings Canyon NP visitor center and as you are on the Kings Canyon scenic byway, it’ll be a right turn from that road. On that same turn, if you go left, that’ll take you to the General Grant tree area so you can see this first, then the trees after or vice versa.

Panoramic Point is a great view of the eastern area of Kings Canyon and you can see very far into the park. If you want, you can also skip this part because you’ll still be driving in that direction later as you continue on the scenic byway anyway and all throughout that drive will be similar stops you can take.

Drive the entire Kings Canyon scenic byway:

I did the entire drive in and out when I visited Kings Canyon and I loved it. It’ll take you over an hour to drive (it’s that long) and you’ll start from the top area of the park overlooking the canyon, then slowly drive down into that canyon where you’ll find many of the other activities on this list.

I strongly recommend taking your time on this drive, not just because of it’s beauty but also because it can get dangerous in parts and it’s easy to get distracted by how amazing this drive is. And just as well, the same drive into the end of the scenic byway is one way to enjoy your day in this park, but at the same time when you’re done, you’ll be driving back on it, offering you a completely different view of the park, even though you are on the same exact road.

In any case, the Kings Canyon scenic byway is in my opinion one of the best scenic drives in North America. I also think it’s one of the best scenic drives in Northern California too (and southern). 

See Boyden Cavern:

Boyden Cavern is one of the most popular attractions you’ll come across as you drive deeper into Kings Canyon. It’s easy to spot from the road and there’s a lot of space for parking. This attraction takes you on a short hike up and around a mountain, then down into a large cavern with amazing rock formations. It’s a great family activity to try. Unfortunately for me, because I was in this area in November, it was closed, and this is one of the many attractions in the park which is only open seasonally (I believe it closes in November).

See Grizzly Falls:

You won’t find too many large waterfalls in Kings Canyon, but Grizzly Fall is one of the tallest. It’s about 100 feet high and as you drive on the scenic byway (heading east), it’ll be to your left. There’s a small parking with picnic tables and the hike from that area to Grizzly Falls is only about 100 feet. There are some hikes nearby but nothing official so if you are thinking of hiking up and around Grizzly Falls, I wouldn’t recommend it. In any case, this is a great looking waterfall and because it’s at the bottom of Kings Canyon, you’ll also have beautiful views of that area as well.

Check out Cedar Grove Overlook:

Continuing further east on the scenic byway, the next stop I recommend you take is the Cedar Grove Overlook. There’s another visitor center in that area and from it, it’s about a 1 mile hike to reach the overlook. This hike isn’t difficult but takes you to a great view of Kings Canyon NP and I would say it’s one of the top spots for getting a great/short hiking experience and view of the canyon area overall. The good news is that within this region of the NP, you will find several stops with views similar to the Cedar Grove Overlook (one in particular is called Canyon View).

See Roaring River Falls:

Out of all the waterfalls I saw the day I visited this park (many off the road, not just Grizzly Falls), Roaring River Falls was my favorite. By the time you reach this waterfall, you’ll only be a few miles away from the end of the scenic byway, but the parking lot for this waterfall will be to your right. It’s a quarter mile walk on a simple path to the waterfall. Once you reach it, the views from it are incredible. The waterfall is only about 50 feet high, but there’s a beautiful pool and rock formation around it. 

Explore the Zumwalt Meadow hike:

One of the best places to take a picture of Kings Canyon from the very bottom of the NP is in Zumwalt Meadow (at least in my opinion). You’ll park in the area right by it (it’s very large) and do a short quarter mile hike to the meadow.

You’ll cross a small bridge, then walk on the other side of the river by the parking lot and that’ll take you into the meadow. From there, you’ll find a boardwalk that’ll take you to amazing views of the canyon from a distance.

There are several connecting hiking trails in the area you’ll also see which mix together with the next place to see on this list. Most of the hiking trails here are very easy and definitely very scenic. In my opinion, the views from this area of Kings Canyon National Park are close to if not equal to the beauty of Tunnel View which is at Yosemite National Park!

Stop at Kings Canyon Road’s end:

Road’s End is the official last stop before the scenic byway ends and you’ll have to turn back. But before you go, I would strongly recommend stopping in that area and checking out the several hikes available there. Here are some:

1. Bailey Bridge.
2. Mist Falls.
3. Copper Creek Trail.

There are also lists and maps of hikes in the area with their distances listed so you can choose which ones to go on depending on the time you have left. My advice would be to get something like Alltrails for these hikes so you can have a digital map while you’re there. The reception in Kings Canyon within this region is very poor. Since this is the last stop before you turn back, I would take your time in this area and try to enjoy as much of it as possible.

Enjoy the ride back on the same Kings Canyon scenic drive:

It may seem like driving back on the same road you just took to see everything in the park will be the same experience, but I can tell you that it won’t be. In fact, if you finish all the other activities on this list before sunset, then the drive back up the same scenic byway will feel completely different.

The views will also be completely new so that is an aspect of Kings Canyon National Park I recommend you dedicate at least an extra hour to, because it’s well worth it! At the same time, if you manage to do the drive back around sunset, you’ll get even better views since the drive back will be facing west, giving you an amazing driving experience.

Map of all locations:

You will also have the option to get the official map of Kings Canyon National Park when you enter and I do recommend you do that too as well as stopping by the welcome area to talk to the rangers and ask what they recommend you see. This simple map I made will just make it easy to identify where each spot is as the official map doesn’t actually show this stuff.

Lodging info:

Best places to stay at near Kings Canyon

Related:

• Pinnacles National Park
• Big Sur
• National parks on the west coast