We booked our campsite at Lodgepole Campground 6 months prior and got one of the best RV sites in the lot! Site #155, on the end and right along the Marble Fork Kaweah River where we swam and soaked our sore feet after long days of adventuring.

A great thing about Lodgepole Campground is there are numerous trailheads that start right at the campground, so you don’t need to drive anywhere to begin your exploration. An awesome feature when the kids are in tow.

There are a lot of great options outside the campground as well and a free shuttle service that will take you to all of them! From Lodgepole, we hikedTokopah Falls, a 3.5 mile out-and-back trail that takes you mainly along the river, through beautiful woods and deer run meadows to a 1,200-foot waterfall, cascading down a huge granite headwall of the glacial Tokopah Valley. This trail has quite a few steps so I would not suggest a stroller or wagon. My husband carried our 2 year old in a Kelty Kids backpack and I had our 7 month old in the Bjorn.

Another must see was the General Sherman Tree, which encompasses a huge grove of giant Sequoias and only a short shuttle ride away. This is the main event, ladies and gentlemen, this is where the giants live. General Sherman is the giant of giant sequoias in the world, believed to be 2,200 years old and weigh 1,385 tons, that’s a lot of wood. From the main tree, we took the Congress trail, a paved 3 miles loop that takes you through gorgeous massive Sequoias groves. While this path is paved there is still about a 470ft elevation gain which could prove challenging for some.

We put both our kiddos in a wagon, which worked fine for us. If using a stroller or wagon I would suggest starting at the wheelchair accessible trailhead, there are no stairs this way! Afterward we took the shuttle to The Peaks Restaurant at Wuksachi Lodge (make sure you order the onion rings).

Both grandmas offered to watch the kids one afternoon so my husband and I took off running for a few hours to explore on our own! Needless to say, we were thrilled! We grabbed a shuttle to Morro Rock and loved it. A steep, fast climb (300ft elevation gain in .5 miles) with dropping granite rock on each side. At the top, you are rewarded with 360 views of the magnificent mountain ranges and valleys that surround you. This climb is well lined with railings but if you have a fear of heights, this might be a challenge! Afterward, we opted to skip the short shuttle back to the Giant Forest Museum (where you hop on another shuttle back to our campground), and instead took the 1.5 mile Moro Rock Trail way down, best decision by far. On the entire trail we only encountered 2 people which is very rare for any hike here this time of year. We passed giant Sequoia tree after giant Sequoia tree as we trail ran our way back. Trail running also meant we got to ice-cream faster.

Back at camp our toddler was quick to tell us of her bear sighting and it is still her favorite thing to talk about.

This is where our crazy RV adventure ends. It was beautiful, it was exhausting, it was incredibly fun, and we would do it all over again in a heartbeat. To spend every day under the trees, feet dirty, sleepless, with the people I love most is an incredible gift. Now, onto planning the next great adventure!

Sequoia National Park

Activities

Plans

Blog posts