Golden Gate Photo - Kings Canyon-Sequoia National Park Gallery
Fine Art Photography from Kings Canyon-Sequoia National Park.


Kings Canyon-Sequoia National Park is a relatively recent merger of two great national parks. Sequoia National Park, on the south, is the second oldest park in the national park system, created to protect the water supply and the big trees in 1890. It includes the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada that are the home to the groves of the giant trees, eastward to the geographic divide of the Sierras that includes the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney. The sequoia (Sequoia-dendron giganteum) is the largest confirmed living organism on Earth with a height up to 311 feet (95 meters), a base diameter up to 40 feet (12 meters), and a weight up to 2.7 million pounds (1.4 million kilograms). Kings Canyon, on the north, includes much of the remote, glacially-carved peaks of the Sierra north of Mount Whitney along with the deeply-incised canyons of the Middle and South Forks of the Kings River.

Moro Rock View

Moro Rock View

This is the view to the east from atop Moro Rock, a dome-shaped granite monolith at the southern edge of Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park. From its 6,725-foot (2,050-meter) perch, you can see up the valley of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River to the high peaks of the Sierras and the great western divide at 12,000 to 13,000 feet (3,600 to 4,000 meters) above sea level. Behind this divide is the highest peak in the continental United States, Mount Whitney.

Print No. A97-3-5

General Grant Tree

General Grant Tree

Referred to as the Nation's Christmas Tree, the General Grant tree is the third largest sequoia at 267 feet (88 meters) tall, and at 107 feet (35 meters) in circumference near the base, it is the thickest sequoia in the world. It rises into the fog that often shrouds the western slopes of the sierras. It is estimated to be between 1,500 and 2,000 years old.

Print No. A00-24-11

General Grant Canopy

General Grant Canopy

Rising from the Grant Grove, the General Grant sequoia has limbs, like mighty biceps, which are larger than the truck of many other trees.

Print No. A00-24-6

Fallen Monarch

Fallen Monarch

Also located in the Grant Grove, the Fallen Monarch is the remnant shell of a giant sequoia. In the past, it has been used as a U.S. Cavalry stable for 32 horses and even as a saloon. This is the view looking out of a "window" worn through the thick bark while standing inside the hollow tree.

Print No. A00-7-1

Congress Trail View

Congress Trail View

This stand of sequoias along the Congress Trail shows the distinct reddish coloration of the sequoias bark, very similar to the related redwoods.

Print No. A00-25-11

Roaring River Falls

Roaring River Falls

Located in the Kings Canyon portion of the park, these falls pass over the granitic bedrock and boulders along the Roaring River near their confluence with the South Fork of the Kings River.

Print No. A00-24-1

Junction Ridge View

Junction Ridge View

This is the view east along Junction Ridge, which is part of the Monarch Divide in the northern part of the park (Kings Canyon). The granitic and metamorphic rocks rise over a mile above the South Fork of the Kings River. Kings Canyon is the deepest canyon in the United States at almost 8,000 feet (2,600 meters). That's deeper than the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Print No. A00-23-8

Trail Crest View

Trail Crest View

This is the view from the crest of the Mount Whitney Trail, looking towards the west into Kern Canyon and the remote eastern portion of Sequoia National Park. Hitchcock and Guitar Lakes lie at the bottom of the western slope of Mount Whitney. The impressive massif in the upper left corner is Mount Hitchcock. In the distance is the north-south oriented Kern Canyon.

Print No. A02-32-8

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