Sequoia Recreation Map Backpacking Trails. Includes both Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, CA Recreation Map. Areas include: Lodgepole Campground, Mineral King Canyon, Giant Forests, Grant Grove Sequoia, Ash Mountain, Silver City California, Crystal Cave Sequoia, Mount Whitney. Durable, waterproof plastic map; Folded. Map Scale: 125K; ISBN# 9781877689499
Tom Harrison Trail Map: Kings Canyon High Country Trail Map. Areas include: Rae Lakes, Paradise Valley, Cedar Grove, Kearsarge Pass, LeConte Canyon, Crown Valley, Tehipite Valley, Blackcap Basin; John Muir PCT Wilderness Map, Pacific Crest Trail, US Hwy 395 Eastern Sierra Nevada; Backpacking High Sierra, Hiking Backpacking Kings Canyon National Park.
Neighboring Yosemite National Park on the westside, Sierra NF is one of the most popular National Forest in U.S. – and California, due to its proximity to the National Park. John Muir Wilderness is within easy reach and trailhead parking can get close to higher elevations, via Lake Edison. Kings River w/ Pine Flat Reservoir and Kings Canyon National Park is on the south border of this forest.
Numerous reservoirs, big rivers, many creeks, meadows, granite walls, domes, mountain peaks. Wilderness trailheads, backpacking, boating, camping, fishing, hot springs, kayaking, mountain biking, mountaineering routes, off roading, river rafting, rock climbing, snowmobiling, snow ski & xc.
Panorama of the Backcountry, via SnowMo in mid-March
Highway 168 is plowed often
Sierra Maps for Central Sierra Mountains
Waterproof map of the Sierra Nevada. Quality USDA maps created for the National Forest Service. Yosemite West, Kaiser Pass, Kaiser Wilderness, Huntington Lake & Shaver Lake, Dinkey Creek, Wishon Reservoir & Courtright Reservoir. Western Sierra Nevada Wilderness.
Ranger Map – NFS issued map. GPS: Longitude & Latitude; Rivers, Creeks, Peaks, Elevations, 4WD & every dirt BackRoad, Hot Springs, Equestrian Areas, all Campgrounds, Hiking Trails & BackPacking Trailheads.
Areas include: Western Sierra, Sierra Summit, Mariposa, Wawona, Oakhurst, Merced River, Bass Lake, Huntington Lake, Shaver Lake, Kaiser Pass, Dinkey Creek, South Yosemite, Mono Hot Springs, San Joaquin River, Mammoth Pool Reservoir, Lake Edison, Florence, Wishon, Courtright, John Muir Trail/Wilderness, Ansel Adams Wilderness, Mammoth, Sierra Lakes, North Kings Canyon National Park, Pine Flat Reservoir, Black Rock Reservoir, Kings River, Monarch Wilderness.
Map Size: 36″x 40″ overall / 4″x9″ folded; Printed in 2011 on waterproof plastic. ISBN# 9781593514907
Wildfire has recently ravaged about half of this National Forest, from Shaver Lake to Mammoth Pool Reservoir; Kaiser Wilderness, San Joaquin River, Huntington Lake, all the way out to Lake Edison. Many areas could be closed to logging and fire cleanup. Check with USFS for specifics. Creek Fire 2020
Books on the Southern Sierra Mountains, Calaveras Big Trees, Sequoia National Forest & Sequoia National Park
Giant Sequoia are the most massive individual trees in the world. They grow to an average height of 164–279 feet with trunk diameters ranging from 20–26 feet. Record trees have been measured at 311 feet tall. The specimen known to have the greatest diameter at breast height is the General Grant tree at 28.9 feet.
The oldest known giant sequoia is approximately 3,200 years old based on dendrochronology. Giant sequoias are among the oldest living organisms on Earth. Giant sequoia bark is fibrous, furrowed, and may be 3 feet thick at the base of the columnar trunk. The sap contains tannic acid, which provides significant protection from fire damage. The leaves are evergreen, awl-shaped and arranged spirally on the shoots.
The giant sequoia regenerates by seed. The seed cones are 1–3 inches long and mature in 18–20 months, though they typically remain green and closed for as long as 20 years. Each cone has 30–50 spirally arranged scales, with several seeds on each scale, giving an average of 230 seeds per cone. Seeds are dark brown, yellow-brown wing along each side. Some seeds shed when the cone scales shrink during hot weather in late summer, but most are liberated by insect damage or when the cone dries from the heat of fire. Young trees start to bear cones after 12 years.