Hiking in and around L.A. can often feel like its own mini-vacation.
Our local public lands offer many different types of escape, whether you want to take a quick run through Griffith Park, a day hike with ocean views, or a backpacking adventure through Angeles National Forest. But sometimes, you need an actual escape. And for that, friends, I recommend driving five hours north to Kings Canyon National Park.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, known colloquially as SEKI, are separate parks jointly managed by the National Park Service. Kings Canyon, the northern park, is known for its tremendous backpacking adventures to pristine mountain lakes. I recently visited Kings Canyon for a guide I wrote.
A friend had told me it was her favorite place on Earth. Once I started my drive on Highway 180 east of Fresno, I began to understand why. I could see massive (lowercase) rocky mountains, a rushing river and gorgeous waterfalls by just looking out my window.
Kings Canyon is 722 square miles — about 1.5 times the size of New York City — but it’s still possible to see a lot there on a weekend trip. I went for three days and focused my time in the Cedar Grove area, which reopened this summer after closing because of destructive flooding.
I stayed in Sentinel Campground, which will be open until Oct. 28, meaning you still have time to camp there too. (If you want to know more about lodging, I wrote about it here .
) Many hikers come to Kings Canyon to go backpacking, but you ca.