NATIONAL SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON PARKS & SEQUOIA NATIONAL FORES T/ GIANT SEQUOIA NATIONAL MONUMENT LATE SUMMER GUIDE 2010 Crystal Cave / Free Activities • page 3 page 8 • Facilities & Ranger Programs in Sequoia Road Limits & Safety / Finding Gasoline • page 5 page 9 • Facilities & Programs in Kings Canyon & USFS Highlights & Shuttle in Sequoia Park • page 6 page 10 • Camping & Lodging / Bears & Your Food Highlights in Kings Canyon & USFS • page 7 page 12 • Expect Traffic Delays / Details & Park Map Discover • Protect • Connect Three verbs lie at the heart of a Classroom – helps to introduce great visit to your national parks: Sequoia and Kings Canyon to stu - discover the park for yourself, dents in some of the most under - connect to it on a personal level, served schools in the state. and choose to protect it! Rangers in the Classroom touches The number of people who can thousands of children each year. experience these parks this way is These parks lie just beyond their going up, thanks to a unique non- backyards, yet most of the kids have profit group. The Sequoia Parks never been here. Through curricu - Foundation raises funds for projects lum-based programs, they discover that make these parks easier to visit, a new world and start to see their via trails, exhibits, and classroom role in protecting it. They get excit - programs, to name just a few. ed about coming here with their A few examples of their projects: families and starting that personal • reworking trails to make them connection that can last a lifetime. more accessible for wheelchairs and Rangers travel as often as possi - anyone else who could use a ble to as many classrooms as they smoother walking surface; can – doing so in vans that were • support for trail-crew jobs that donated with help from the provide young people with experi - Foundation and other partners. ence, adventure, and career devel - Without assistance from the opment while they improve the Foundation, many of these pro - trails we all enjoy; and grams would be reduced or non- • exhibits offering insight into the existent. In particular, Rangers in wonders of these parks to visitors of The Sequoia Parks Foundation supports “Rangers in the Classroom,” the Classroom relies on the all ages, both outside along trails helping kids to discover these parks. Here, examining skulls and pelts Foundation, and more is needed. and inside Beetle Rock Education from park wildlife opens their eyes to the links between animals and The Sequoia Parks Foundation park habitat. As they learn more, suddenly the parks — and their Center and other visitor centers. own connection to them — start to come to life. explores many avenues to raise The Foundation also works to funds. Check them out at www. take the national-park experience beyond park boundaries. They sequoiaparksfoundation.org from time to time; see what’s new. bring artists here to create park-based art, which the Foundation Find more ways that you can discover, protect, and connect with then shares with the public in other locations. They also reach out Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Then help others to do to schools. One of the most successful projects – Rangers in the the same! SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON Welcome! W E L C O M E You may borrow the park map & You expect giant trees and huge canyons—and you won’t be guide in Braille at visitor centers. disappointed. Yet the whole of these parks is even greater than the sum of its famous parts. B IE N V E N U E Rising from 1300’ to 14,494’, these parks protect a spectacu - Une guide officielle est dis pon ible lar elevational range. This span from low to high means dramat - dans les centres d’information. ic shifts from hot foothills to shady forests to the cold High Sierra. It means diverse plants and animals living in extremely B IE N V E N ID O S varied conditions. It means steep roads and trails that climb Hay un folleto en Español mountains, and cold rivers that plunge down from their heights. disponible en los centros de visita. There is diversity, too, in the caretakers of this landscape. Bordering these two national parks is a national monument, W IL K O M M E N which is part of a national forest. A U.S. Geological Survey Field Eine Landkarte ist auch in Station conducts research here. The Sequoia Natural History deutscher sprache im Besucher- Association sells books and maps at visitor centers and con - zentrum erhaltlich. tributes to education and research. The Sequoia Parks Foundation supports significant park projects. B E N V E N U T I La traduzione in lingua Italiana Other partners, public and private, cooperate with the Park della mappa e’ disponibile in tutti i Service to meet a challenging mission — providing for public centri di informazioni. enjoyment while keeping the parks unimpaired for future gener - ations. You are an important partner, too! Experience these parks, learn all you can, and join in preserving them. PARK, FOREST, The National Park Service cares OR MONUMENT? PHONE NUMBERS What is the difference between EMERGENCY — DIAL 911 for special places saved by the Sequoia and Kings Canyon No coins needed. National Parks, Sequoia National American people so that all may Forest, and Giant Sequoia 24-Hour Park Information National Monument? 1-559-565-3341 (NPS) experience our heritage. 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) pose. Together they provide a www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia FEES HELP YOUR PARKS! wide spectrum of uses. Yosemite Information (NPS) Most of your entrance and camping fees stay here. The parks National parks strive to keep 1-209-372-0200 invest them in projects that improve visitor facilities and protect landscapes unimpaired www.nps.gov/yose park resources. Fees have paid for repairing and upgrading for future generations. California Road Conditions roads, campgrounds, trails, picnic areas, and restrooms. They They protect natural 1-800-427-7623 (Caltrans) and historic features have also improved visitor centers, updated exhibits, and mod - while offering light-on- Partners in the Parks ernized naturalist slide programs. the-land recreation. The following organizations work Park rangers work for together to provide this guide, first ENTRANCE FEE OPTIONS the National Park published in 1974 as the Sequoia Bark. • 7-day pass for Sequoia & Kings Canyon, and for Hume Lake Service, part of the It is published by the Sequoia Natural District of Sequoia Na tional Forest/Giant Sequoia National Department of the Interior. His tory As so ciation (SNHA) and National forests, managed printed by Willems Commercial Monument (GSNM) : $20 per vehicle (private, non-commer - under a “multiple use” concept, Printing, Inc. cial) or $10 per person on foot, bicycle, motorcycle, or bus. provide services and commodities National Park Service (NPS) that may include lumber, cattle Malinee Crapsey, Editor • 12- Month Pass for Sequoia & Kings Canyon, and for Hume grazing, minerals, as well as recre - 1-559-565-3341 Lake District of Sequoia Na tional Forest/GSNM : $30 admits ation with and with - www.nps.gov/seki all passengers in a private vehicle for one year from month of out vehicles. Forest Sequoia Natural History purchase. Not valid at Crystal Cave. rangers work for the Association (SNHA) U.S. Forest Service, 1- 559-565-3759 an agency in the www.sequoia hist ory. org • 12-Month: America the Beautiful Interagency Annual Pass : $80. Valid for entrance fees at Federal recreation sites including Department of Sequoia Parks Foundation National Parks, National Forests, FWS, BLM, & Bureau of Agriculture. 1-559-739-1668 Both agencies manage www.sequoiaparksfoundation. org Reclamation. Admits all passengers in a single private non-com - wilderness and other areas where U.S. Forest Service (FS) mercial vehicle where per-vehicle fees are charged, or the passh - they maximize protection of natu - 1- 559-784-1500 older plus up to 3 persons (age 16 & older) for per-person fee ral resources. For example, part www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia areas, for 12 months. Not valid at Crystal Cave. of Sequoia National Forest has Delaware North Companies been designated Giant Sequoia Parks & Resorts (DNCPR) • Seniors: America the Beautiful Interagency Pass : $10 one- National Monument to emphasize 1-888-252-5757 time fee buys a lifetime pass for entrance fees for U.S. citizens & protection of sequoias. www.visitsequoia.com permanent residents 62 or over. (Previously issued Golden Age Parks, forests, and monuments Kings Canyon Park Services (KCPS) passes remain valid.) Not valid at Crystal Cave. may have different rules in order 1- 866-KCANYON (522-6966) to meet their goals. Read “Where www.sequoia-kingscanyon.com • Accessibility: America the Beautiful Interagency Access Pass : can I...” on the next page to learn U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Free to blind or permanently disabled U.S. citizens and what activities are permitted where. Despite confusion over 1- 559-565-3171 permanent residents. Take appropriate documentation to any www.werc.usgs.gov names, we get a wide range of park visitor center. (Previously issued Golden Access passes benefits from these diverse areas. Page 1 illustrations ©SNHA by Rick Wheeler remain valid.) Not valid at Crystal Cave. 2 LATE SUMMER 2010 SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS Crystal Cave tours rock! No tickets are sold at the cave, only at Lodgepole and Foot hills visitor centers. 1 Buy them at least 1 ⁄2 hours before the tour. Activities Tours may sell out. See information on traffic delays & length-limit restrictions on page 12.