sequoia ecology and fire
cycles at the Giant Forest
Museum (husually 9am-
5pm or 6pm mid-May–mid-Oct;
c). Across the highway,
Beetle Rock Education
Center (hcall for hr, usually
open Jun-Aug; c) lets kids
ogle bugs, taxidermied
wildlife and (fake) animal
poop.
Starting outside
the museum, Crescent
Meadow Rd makes a
6-mile loop out through
Giant Forest, passing
right through the Tunnel
Log. For 360-degree
views of the Great
Western Divide, climb
the steep quarter-mile
staircase up Moro Rock.
Warning! Crescent
Meadow Rd is closed to
traffic by winter snow;
during summer, ride the
free shuttle buses around
the loop road rather than
driving yourself.
54 p215
The Drive » Narrowing, the
Generals Hwy drops for almost
20 miles into the Sierra Nevada
foothills, passing Amphitheatre
Point and exiting the park
beyond Foothills Visitor Center.
Before reaching the town of
Three Rivers, turn left on Mineral
King Rd, a dizzyingly scenic
25-mile road (partly unpaved,
no trailers or RVs allowed) that
switchbacks up to Mineral King
Valley.
a Mineral
King Valley
Navigating over 700
hairpin turns, it’s a
winding 1½-hour drive
up to the glacially
sculpted Mineral King
Valley (7500ft), a 19th-
century silver-mining
camp and lumber
settlement, and later
a mountain retreat.
Trailheads into the high
country begin at the
end of Mineral King Rd,
where historic private
cabins dot the valley
floor flanked by massive
mountains. Your finaldestination is just over
a mile past the ranger
station, where the valley
unfolds all of its hidden
beauty, and hikes to
granite peaks and alpine
lakes beckon.
Warning! Mineral
King Rd is typically
open only from late May
through late October.
In early summer,
marmots like to chew
on parked cars, so wrap
the undercarriage of
your vehicle with a tarp
or stake chicken-wire
fencing (which can be
rented from Silver City
Resort) around the
outside.Start: 9 Giant Forest
Off the Generals Hwy, about 2 miles south of the
Giant Forest Museum, turn right onto twisting
6.5-mile-long Crystal Cave Rd for a fantastical
walk inside 10,000-year-old Crystal Cave (www.
sequoiahistory.org; tours adult/child from $13/7; husually
10:30am-4:30pm mid-May–Oct; c), carved by an
underground river. Stalactites hang like daggers from
the ceiling, and 10,000-year-old milky-white marble
formations take the shape of ethereal curtains,
domes, columns and shields. Bring a light jacket –
it’s 50°F inside the cave. You must buy tour tickets
in advance from the Lodgepole or Foothills Visitor
Centers.CRYSTAL CAVE
DETOUR:
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.YOSEMITE, SEqUOIA & KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS