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Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Then it seemed to me that the Sierra should be called, not the Nevada or Snowy Range, but the Range of Light. And after ten years of wandering and wondering in the heart of it … it still seems above all others.
— John Muir
The Giants of the Sierras
Meet General Grant at Kings Canyon. Experience the history of our national parks at Sequoia. And in both parks, experience the awe and wonder that comes from being surrounded by the colossal trees that inspired John Muir in his beloved Sierras.
Visit the world’s largest trees at Sequoia, America’s second national park. Kings Canyon is also filled with giants, from immense mountains to deep canyons.

Located in the southern Sierra Nevada range, the parks’ elevations extend from 1,300 feet in the foothills to 14,491 feet at the summit of Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous 48 states. Plunging in the opposite direction, far below the surface, are over 200 marble caverns, many with endemic cave fauna.

This huge variation in the landscape contributes to the collage of habitats that create a rich assemblage of terrestrial, aquatic and subterranean ecosystems.

Although Congress created these two parks in the southern Sierra Nevada at different times, Sequoia and Kings Canyon share miles of boundary. Sequoia was America’s second national park designated in 1890. General Grant National Park, the forerunner of Kings Canyon, was the third, established in 1940.

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