News Release

Grant Grove prescribed burning begins June 23

Date: June 13, 2025
Contact: Holly Streit

National Park Service fire management staff plan to begin prescribed burning ignitions in the Grant Grove area on June 23. The plan includes hand and aerial ignitions of 349 acres over six days at two locations – east of Highway 180, across from the Big Stump parking lot, and west of the General Grant Tree.  
 
Visitors should expect moderate smoke impacts in the Grant Grove sub-district area, as well as intermittent traffic delays. At night, smoke may be discernible in the parks’ lower elevations, the Hume Lake Ranger District of Sequoia National Forest, and the Highway 245 and 180 corridors. Visitors can learn more about air quality and smoke by visiting https://fire.airnow.gov/.  
 
Access to trail systems in the surrounding area, including a segment of the Big Stump Trail, North Grove Loop Trail, and a segment of the Grant Grove Day Ride Trail will be temporarily closed during ignitions. Firefighters will attempt to limit the duration of these closures as much as possible. Visitors will still be able to access the General Grant Tree Trail during ignitions. 
 
These regularly scheduled prescribed burns reduce hazardous fuel loading and maintain the natural fire cycle in the giant sequoia ecosystem of Kings Canyon National Park. Much of the area surrounding Grant Grove burned severely during the 2015 Rough Fire and the 2021 KNP Complex Fire. The Grant Grove area was largely protected from the worst of those impacts due to the park’s long history of prescribed burning in the area. This is a mission that the Sequoia and Kings Canyon Fire and Aviation program continues to uphold, in order to protect human lives and property as well as the treasured natural resources.