Late Summer Guide 2011
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NATIONAL SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON PARKS & SEQUOIA NATIONAL FORES T/ GIANT SEQUOIA NATIONAL MONUMENT LATE SUMMER GUIDE 2011 Crystal Cave / Park Activities • page 3 page 8 • Facilities & Programs in Sequoia Road Limits / Safety / Finding Gasoline • page 5 page 9 • Facilities & Programs in Kings Canyon & USFS Highlights in Sequoia Park • page 6 page 10 • Camping & Lodging / Bears & Your Food Highlights in Kings Canyon & USFS • page 7 page 12 • Traffic Delays / Park Map Sequoias, fire, and the next generation It is impossible to walk through canopy above to sunlight. a sequoia grove without being awe - The odds are strongly against a struck by the beauty of the great sequoia seed germinating and grow - giants: General Sherman, the Grant ing to maturity. Thousands of seeds Tree, the Parker Group, the Lincoln scatter after fires, yet most of them Tree, and the many other sequoias will not even take root. The very that people have come to know and small number that do, however, still love. You can find a joy and a peace have a lot to contend with. Drought, while wandering through sequoias competition for water and nutrients, that feels unlike anything else. floods, and fire all take a toll on Another wonder awaits you in these young trees. Occasional dense many of the parks’ sequoia groves. clusters of saplings can be seen ten Whether walking through the East years after a fire, but very few of Fork Grove, Redwood Mountain them will last much beyond that. Grove, or in many locations in Giant They cannot all survive if one is Forest, with an observant eye you to survive. Natural processes wean can spot crops and thickets of small out the weaker trees and those with sequoia saplings. less sunlight or less access to water Young sequoias are distinctive sources. Trees of the same age often in their bright green and sharp, scaly vary in size after just a few years. needles. Seedlings look stunted and Only those in prime locations grow scraggly, but they take on a graceful well. For example, General Sherman spire shape as they mature into stands as the largest — but not the saplings. They often grow in dense Ten years ago, these sequoia saplings sprouted after a prescribed oldest — sequoia. Its size can be clusters near streams, wet meadows, fire. The young tree on the left is starting to take on the conical attributed in part to the luck of hav - and sunny gaps in the forest canopy – shape standard to older saplings. NPS Photo: D. Schweizer ing started in an excellent spot. a testament to this tree’s thirsty and sun-loving nature. They also grow Walk along the Congress Trail in Giant Forest or in Redwood almost exclusively where fire has burned recently. Mountain Grove to enjoy sequoias both young and old. While admiring Virtually all these young trees result from prescribed fires completed the youngsters, try to determine which will be survivors. Which of these over recent years. Giant sequoias are fire-adapted; they thrive with saplings will live through droughts and fires? Which will grow tall, drop natural fire cycles. Fire opens the cones, releasing the tiny seeds to the their lower limbs to help protect themselves from future fires, and drink nutrient rich ash and mineral soil below—the ideal conditions for this deep of the mountain waters? Somewhere out there is the next General tree’s germination. Fire thins competing plants while opening the Sherman Tree. ~ Deb Schweizer WELCOME to SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON Land of giants... and more WELCOME You expect giant trees and huge canyons—and you You may borrow the park map & guide in Braille at visitor centers. won’t be disappointed. Yet the whole of these parks is even greater than the sum of its famous parts. BIENVENUE Rising from 1300’ to 14,494’ (the highest elevation in Une guide officielle est dis pon ible the lower 48 states), these parks protect a spectacular dans les centres d’information. elevational range. This span from low to high means dramatic shifts from warm foothills to cool forests to the BIENVENIDOS cold High Sierra. It means diverse plants and animals Hay un folleto en Español living in extremely varied conditions. It means steep disponible en los centros de visita. roads and trails that climb mountains, and cold rivers that plunge down from their heights. WILKOMMEN The caretakers of this landscape are also diverse. A Eine Landkarte ist auch in national monument, which is part of a national forest, deutscher sprache im Besucher- borders these two national parks. The U.S. Geological zentrum erhaltlich. Survey conducts research here. The Sequoia Natural BENVENUTI History Association runs bookstores at visitor centers La traduzione in lingua Italiana and contributes to education and research. The Sequoia della mappa e’ disponibile in tutti Parks Foundation supports important park projects. i centri di informazioni. Other partners, public and private, cooperate with the Park Service to meet a challenging mission—providing for public enjoyment while keeping the parks unimpaired PARK, FOREST, for future generations. You are an important partner, too! Experience these parks, learn all you can, and help to OR MONUMENT? PHONE NUMBERS preserve them. Thank you! What is the difference between EMERGENCY — DIAL 911 Sequoia and Kings Canyon No coins needed. National Parks, Sequoia National Forest, and Giant Sequoia 24-Hour Park Information National Monument? 1-559-565-3341 (NPS) Each is on federal land. Each www.nps.gov/seki exists to benefit society. Yet each Na tional Forest Information has a different history and pur - 1-559-338-2251 (USFS) YOUR FEES HELP YOUR PARKS! Most of your entrance and camping fees stay right here. pose. Together they provide a wide www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia spectrum of uses. Yosemite Information (NPS) The parks invest them in projects that improve visitor facili - National parks strive to keep 1-209-372-0200 ties and protect park resources. Fees have paid for repairing landscapes unimpaired www.nps.gov/yose and upgrading roads, campgrounds, trails, picnic areas, for future generations. California Road Conditions and restrooms. They have also improved visitor centers, They protect natural 1-800-427-7623 (Caltrans) updated exhibits, and modernized slide programs! and historic features while offering light-on- Partners in the Parks ENTRANCE FEE OPTIONS the-land recreation. The following organizations work Park rangers work for together to provide this guide, first • 7-day pass for Sequoia & Kings Canyon and Hume Lake the National Park published in 1974 as the Sequoia Bark. District of Sequoia Na tional Forest/Giant Sequoia National Service, part of the It is published by the Sequoia Natural Monument (GSNM) : $20 per vehicle (private, non-commercial) Department of the Interior. His tory As so ciation (SNHA) and National forests, managed printed by Willems Commercial or $10 per person on foot, bicycle, motorcycle, or bus. Printing, Inc. under a “multiple use” concept, • 12- Month Pass for Sequoia & Kings Canyon and Hume Lake provide services and commodities National Park Service (NPS) that may include lumber, cattle Malinee Crapsey, Editor District of Sequoia Na tional Forest/GSNM : $30 admits all passengers in a private vehicle for one year from month of pur - grazing, minerals, as 1-559-565-3341 well as recreation www.nps.gov/seki chase. Not valid at Crystal Cave. with and without Sequoia Natural History vehicles. Forest Association (SNHA) • 12-Month: America the Beautiful Interagency Annual Pass : rangers work for the 1- 559-565-3759 $80. Valid for entrance fees at Federal recreation sites including U.S. Forest Service, www.sequoia hist ory. org National Parks, National Forests, FWS, BLM, & Bureau of an agency in the Sequoia Parks Foundation Reclamation. Admits all passengers in a single private non-com - Department of 1-559-739-1668 mercial vehicle where per-vehicle fees are charged, or the pass- Agriculture. www.sequoiaparksfoundation. org holder plus up to 3 persons (age 16 & older) for per-person fee Both agencies manage wilder - U.S. Forest Service (FS) areas, for 12 months. Not valid at Crystal Cave. ness and other areas where they 1- 559-784-1500 maximize protection of natural www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia • Seniors: America the Beautiful Interagency Pass : $10 one- resources. For example, part of Delaware North Companies time fee buys a lifetime pass for entrance fees for U.S. citizens Sequoia National Forest has been Parks & Resorts (DNCPR) designated Giant Sequoia National 1-888-252-5757 & permanent residents 62 or over. (Previously issued Golden Age Monument to emphasize protec - www.visitsequoia.com passes remain valid.) Not valid at Crystal Cave. tion of sequoias. Kings Canyon Park Services (KCPS) Parks, forests, and monuments 1- 866-KCANYON (522-6966) • Accessibility: America the Beautiful Interagency Access Pass may have different rules in order www.sequoia-kingscanyon.com Free to blind or permanently disabled U.S. citizens and to meet their goals. Read “Where U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) permanent residents. Take appropriate documentation to any can I...” on the next page to learn 1- 559-565-3171 park entrance station or visitor center. (Previously issued Golden what activities are permitted www.werc.usgs.gov Access passes remain valid.) Not valid at Crystal Cave. where. Despite confusion over names, we get a wide range of Page 1 illustrations ©SNHA by Rick Wheeler benefits from these diverse areas. 2 LATE SUMMER 2011 SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS FREE W ALKS & TALKS VISITOR CENTERS: Each may be offered at Giant one has unique exhibits Forest, Lodgepole, Grant and a store: books, post - Grove, Cedar Grove, cards, maps, posters, Mineral King, and the and other items. Your Foothills. See pages 8-9. purchases support the Activities parks! See pages 8-9.