In this day and age where kids and adults alike are staring deeply into their palms at their tablets or phones, it’s good to put the electronics away and simply look up. Gazing up to the sky you can see an endless world ready to be explored. Why not fill your eyes with the towering and majestic giant sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park that may be 3000 years old? Sequoia National Park is named for earth’s largest living things – Sequoiadendron giganteum, or giant sequoias. Their massive, cinnamon-hued trunks and stout limbs soar skyward only on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range, between 5,000 and 8,200 feet (taller and more slender, coast redwoods grow only on a narrow strip along the Pacific Coast). Living less than a thirtieth of the trees’ lifetime, humans can only ponder and dream what a sequoia has experienced. If your lifetime includes a visit to California’s National Parks, here are 4 must see sights in Sequoia National Park.
Giant Forest Museum
The Giant Forest is home to half of the Earth’s largest and longest-living trees. Named in 1875 by John Muir, the forest is a stand of more than 8,000 colossal sequoia trees – many standing just as Muir found them. One of the best ways to get to know the Giant Forest and its trees is to visit the Giant Forest Museum. 
Visitors flock to this park institution to learn how to identify trees; discover the difference between Giant Sequoias and California Coastal Redwoods; explore the ecology and natural history of the park through interactive exhibits; and hike along the Big Trees Trail or in the Giant Forest from this location. We explored the museum for about 30 minutes, but parents with kids can double that easily with the interesting exhibits, books, and maps within it. My husband talked to the ranger about the photo books they had of the park and surrounding camping areas he remembers as a kid.
Just outside the museum, the Sentinel tree checks in at 2200 years old, 273 feet tall, and 700 tons and is only considered average in size comparative to it’s surrounding neighbors! It’s truly hard to believe that simple fact!
General Sherman Tree
In 1879, the General Sherman tree was named after the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman, by naturalist James Wolverton, who had served under Sherman as a lieutenant in the 9th Indiana Cavalry. If you only see one thing in Sequoia National Park, this is it! The General Sherman Tree is the largest living thing on Earth by volume. Weighing approximately 2.7 millions pounds, standing 274.9 feet tall, and is still growing at 2100 years old, think of the tree as larger than a 27-story building! It’s 36.5 feet in diameter, and has a circumference of nearly 102 feet! Here we stopped with our picnic lunches from the nearby Wuksachi Lodge, and sat and gazed at the number of tourists posing at it’s base! Every few minutes we’d look up, then back down and realize just how small we are standing next to the General Sherman. 
I guarantee that following this trip, you’ll be begging for a neck massage!
Moro Rock
The iconic landscape of the High Sierra was shaped by a subduction zone that forced deep volcanic rock above the Earth’s crust, forming the signature granite peaks like Moro Rock. 
Climbing to the top of Moro Rock (.6 miles round trip) is a must-do in Sequoia National Park. this giant granite dome offers a great work out when you ascent about 400 steps up, the reward is awe-inspiring views for days of the western part of the park and the Great Western Divide. 
The hike takes about 40 minutes total and if you’re like me, you’ll want to rest at the top take in the beauty that surrounds you. Water and a protein bar are good things to carry with you as well.
Tunnel Log
On December 4, 1937 a giant sequoia fell across the road. It was hollowed out 8 feet high and 17 feet wide to allow cars to pass and now it’s a neat attraction to see and drive through at Sequoia National Park. 21 feet base diameter, and 275 feet long, the Tunnel Log is a beloved landmark that the kids will sure love!
These are my four must-sees in the park, let me know if you have one to add to my list! For more information and to plan a trip to Sequoia National Park, visit http://www.visitsequoia.com/.
Our stay was hosted as part of a media trip, though all our opinions are 100% our own.
Nice place. We are going there this fall
I haven’t been to Sequoia National Park in years. These photos took me back and hopefully I can take the kids there some day. It really is amazing thinking of a tree 2200 years old.
We visited there 2 years ago. It’s an amazing park! Great pictures too.
looks beautiful! i will have to try to get there sometime
This is absolutely an amazing destination! I would love to take my children and hubby to the Sequoia National Park, I know they would enjoy it.
I have never been but I definitely want to add to my list of places to visit. The Giant Sequoia’s must look so majestic!
This may be as close as I get to some of the places you have traveled to. Your pics are amazing!
You cannot appreciate the size of those trees unless you are standing underneath looking up at them.
Isn’t nature amazing?!? and oh so beautiful!! I have always wanted to go there and it is on my bucket list. There’s no doubt in my mind that although the pictures are amazing they don’t do it justice.
The trees are huge and beautiful! I want to g see them in the Sequoia National Park next time I am in California. Your pictures really captured the beauty of these trees!