Kings Canyon Scenic Byway
National Forest Scenic Byway 50 mi in California.
About the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway
Kings Canyon Scenic By-way is the only vehicle route into the Kings Canyon, one of the deepest canyons in North America. For fifty miles you will travel through many of the Southern Sierra life zones including oak chaparral, pine and fir forest, and several giant sequoia groves. You will then also experience the spectacular geology of Kings Canyon. The route begins at the Hume Lake Ranger Station, at 2000 feet in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada and climbs up to 6500 feet to Kings Canyon National Park (there is an entrance fee for the Park and the Forest). In the park you can stop at the visitor center and take a short hike to the General Grant tree, the second largest Giant Sequoia! The by-way then descends 2,700 feet to the wild and scenic Kings River. Stop at vantage point along the way such as Junction View, Marble Mountain View, and Grizzly Falls. The road ends just past Cedar Grove in Kings Canyon National Park.
Round trip Drive time takes about 2-3 hours.
The section of the byway just below the turn off to Hume Lake closes for the winter so plan your tour mid-May to mid-October.
US Forest Service's own description, in its words. Byway page on fs.usda.gov.
Camping along the byway
- Mile 13 · 1.9 mi offEshom Campground · Forest Service · 24 sites · reservable
- Mile 16 · on the roadSunset Campground (Ca) · National Park Service · 156 sites · reservable
- Mile 16 · on the roadAzalea Campground · National Park Service · 111 sites · reservable
- Mile 16 · on the roadCrystal Springs Campground (CA) · National Park Service · 35 sites · reservable
- Mile 16 · on the roadCrystal Springs Campground Mid-Sized Group Sites · National Park Service · 14 sites · reservable
- Mile 18 · 3.5 mi offTen Mile Campground (Ca) · Forest Service · 11 sites · reservable
- Mile 18 · 3.8 mi offLava Butte Campground · Forest Service
- Mile 22 · on the roadPrincess · Forest Service · 89 sites · reservable
- Mile 23 · 1.0 mi offHume Lake · Forest Service · 71 sites · reservable
- Mile 23 · 2.0 mi offAspen Hollow Group (Sequoia National Forest, CA) · Forest Service · 1 sites · reservable
- Mile 23 · 2.6 mi offLogger Flat Group · Forest Service · 1 sites · reservable
- Mile 23 · 3.6 mi offLandslide · Forest Service · 8 sites · reservable
- Mile 34 · on the roadConvict Flat Campground · Forest Service
- Mile 45 · on the roadSentinel Campground · National Park Service · 82 sites · reservable
- Mile 45 · on the roadCanyon View Group Sites · National Park Service · 16 sites · reservable
- Mile 45 · on the roadSheep Creek Campground · National Park Service · 111 sites · reservable
- Mile 45 · on the roadMoraine Campground (CA) · National Park Service · 121 sites · reservable
Public campgrounds within 5 miles of the road as the crow flies, in order along the byway; each one's page has its facts, season and weather by month.
About this page's facts
The line is the Federal Highway Administration's scenic byways layer (HEPGIS, a snapshot of 2022-06-24, a US government work), cut at the state line and simplified for the map; the length is the line's. The designation is the program's own: the national tiers from FHWA's America's Byways roster, the rest from the layer's designation field. Road conditions, closures and seasonal gates change: check the agency's own page and the state's road conditions before you go.