• Giant Sequoia Trees

    Sequoia & Kings Canyon

    National Parks California

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  • Changes to Some Opening/Closing Dates for Services and Facilities – Check Back for Updates

    Some of the opening/closing dates for facilities and visitor services in the parks have changed due to weather and/or other circumstances. See link for details and match to locations on the park map (under "Park Tools," bottom left, this page). More »

  • Road Conditions (Entire Park) and Road Construction Delays (if Entering/Exiting Hwy. 198)

    Expect 20-minute to 1-hour construction delays on main road through parks (Generals Hwy) until Memorial Day weekend (7 a.m.-6 p.m.). See link for schedule. Call for 24-hour road conditions info: 559-565-3341 (press 1, 1, 1). More »

  • Vehicle Length Limits Have Changed in Sequoia NP (if Entering/Exiting Hwy 198)

    Planning to see the "Big Trees" in Sequoia National Park? If you enter/exit via Hwy. 198, please pay close attention to new vehicle length advisories for your safety and the safety of others. More »

  • You May Have Trouble Calling Us. Use the "Contact Us" Link (Bottom Left) to Send an E-mail.

    We are experiencing technical problems receiving some incoming phone calls at the parks. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please keep trying to reach us or check this website for frequently-asked questions. The search box (top, right) may be helpful.

  • Prescribed Fires Planned at Ash Mountain/Sequoia National Park (Parks' South Entrance)

    Fire crews will be working on hazard fuel reduction project at Ash Mountain (south entrance) starting May 23. There are nine small burn segments near the south entrance. The fire may be visible from the road and will produce smoke for very short periods.

Ecological Restoration Overview

Park technician plants herbage within a marked out area.

Trees, shrubs, and herbaceous vegetation are planted within forest gaps where buildings and parking lots once stood.

NPS photo

After a century of human use and development, the forest ecosystem in Giant Forest had changed in several ways. Paved roads, trails, and parking lots changed drainage patterns, allowing water to concentrate and create erosion gullies. Vehicle and foot travel compacted the soil and quickly broke down needles and twigs on the soil surface, depleting the topsoil of organic matter. Groups of mature trees were cleared for buildings and parking lots. Fire, on which giant sequoias depend for regeneration, could not be used in Giant Forest Village. There were very few grasses, wildflowers, shrubs, or tree seedlings in the Village because of lack of fire and human trampling.

Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery and management of ecological integrity. In Giant Forest, the goals of ecological restoration were to:

  1. Regrade roads, trails, parking lots, and other altered landforms to approximate original topography and drainage patterns.
  2. Restore soil properties to approximate those of surrounding, undisturbed soils.
  3. Restore the vegetation in the short term by reproducing the species composition, density, and spatial pattern of regeneration that would result from a natural fire event
  4. Restore the vegetation in the long term by integrating the site into the natural fire regime typical of surrounding areas of Giant Forest.

Did You Know?

1890 map of Sequoia National Park.

Sequoia National Park is the second-oldest national park in the United States. It was created by Congress on September 25, 1890. General Grant National Park (the area now called Grant Grove), was designated soon after. Only Yellowstone National Park, created in 1872, is older. More...