- This article is about Kings Canyon National Park, USA. For Kings Canyon, Australia, see Kings Canyon (Northern Territory)
Kings Canyon is part of the Watarrka National Park in Northern Territory, Australia. Sitting at the western end of the George Gill Range, it is 323 km southwest of Alice Springs and 1,316 km south of Darwin.- Description :...
.
Kings Canyon National Park is a U.S. National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of
Fresno, CaliforniaFresno is a city in California, USA, the county seat of Fresno County. As of February 27, 2009, the population was estimated at 500,017, making it the fifth largest city in California and the 36th largest in the nation...
. The park was established in 1940 and covers . It incorporated General Grant National Park, established in 1890 to protect the General Grant Grove.
The park is north of and contiguous with
Sequoia National ParkSequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Visalia, California, in the United States of America. It was established in 1890 as the second U.S. national park, after Yellowstone National Park. The park spans...
; the two are administered by the
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
as one unit, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
Kings Canyon had been known to white settlers since the mid-1800s, but it was not until
John MuirJohn Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of U.S. wilderness. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, have been read by millions and are still popular today...
first visited in 1873 that the canyon began receiving attention.
- This article is about Kings Canyon National Park, USA. For Kings Canyon, Australia, see Kings Canyon (Northern Territory)
Kings Canyon is part of the Watarrka National Park in Northern Territory, Australia. Sitting at the western end of the George Gill Range, it is 323 km southwest of Alice Springs and 1,316 km south of Darwin.- Description :...
.
Kings Canyon National Park is a U.S. National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of
Fresno, CaliforniaFresno is a city in California, USA, the county seat of Fresno County. As of February 27, 2009, the population was estimated at 500,017, making it the fifth largest city in California and the 36th largest in the nation...
. The park was established in 1940 and covers . It incorporated General Grant National Park, established in 1890 to protect the General Grant Grove.
The park is north of and contiguous with
Sequoia National ParkSequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Visalia, California, in the United States of America. It was established in 1890 as the second U.S. national park, after Yellowstone National Park. The park spans...
; the two are administered by the
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
as one unit, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
History
Kings Canyon had been known to white settlers since the mid-1800s, but it was not until
John MuirJohn Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of U.S. wilderness. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, have been read by millions and are still popular today...
first visited in 1873 that the canyon began receiving attention. Muir was delighted at the canyon's similarity to
Yosemite ValleyYosemite Valley is a world-famous scenic location in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. It is the centerpiece of Yosemite National Park, attracting visitors from all parts of the globe....
, as it reinforced his theory regarding the origin of both valleys, which, though competing with
Josiah WhitneyJosiah Dwight Whitney was an American geologist, professor of geology at Harvard University , and chief of the California Geological Survey...
's then-accepted theory that the spectacular mountain valleys were formed by earthquake action, Muir's theory later proved correct: that both valleys were carved by massive glaciers during the last Ice Age.
Kings Canyon's future was in doubt for nearly fifty years. Some wanted to build a dam at the western end of the valley, while others wanted to preserve it as a park. The debate was settled in 1965, when the valley, along with Tehipite Valley, was added to General Grant National Park, established in 1890, and named for the canyon of the
Kings RiverThe Kings River is a major river of California. It arises in the Sierra Nevada, consisting of three forks. The Middle and South Forks start in Kings Canyon National Park, while the North Fork starts in the John Muir Wilderness. The South Fork flows in Kings Canyon: a spectacular deep glacial valley...
within its boundaries.
Geography
Kings Canyon National Park consists of two sections. The small, detached
General Grant GroveGrant Grove is a sequoia grove located in Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada in eastern California. It includes the General Grant tree, the second largest tree in the world...
section of Kings Canyon National Park preserves several groves of giant sequoia including the General Grant Grove, with the famous
General Grant TreeThe General Grant tree is the largest Giant Sequoia in the Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park. It was named in 1867 after Ulysses S. Grant, Union Army general and the 18th President of the United States ....
, and the
Redwood Mountain GroveRedwood Mountain Grove is the largest grove of Giant Sequoias on earth. It is located in Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Forest, at in California's Sierra Nevada...
, which is the largest remaining natural Giant Sequoia grove in the world (covering and with 15,800 sequoia trees over one foot (30 cm) in diameter at their bases). The park's Giant Sequoia forests are part of of old-growth forests shared by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. This section of the park is mostly mixed conifer forest, and is readily accessible via paved highways.
The remainder of Kings Canyon National Park, which comprises over 90% of the total area of the park, is located to the east of General Grant Grove and forms the headwaters of the South and Middle Forks of the
Kings RiverThe Kings River is a major river of California. It arises in the Sierra Nevada, consisting of three forks. The Middle and South Forks start in Kings Canyon National Park, while the North Fork starts in the John Muir Wilderness. The South Fork flows in Kings Canyon: a spectacular deep glacial valley...
and the South Fork of the
San Joaquin RiverThe San Joaquin River , long, is the second-longest river in California. The average unimpaired runoff of the main stem of the river at Millerton Reservoir is about 1.8 million acre feet per year . The San Joaquin and its eight major tributaries drain about of California's San Joaquin Valley...
. Both the South and Middle Forks of the Kings Rivers have extensive glacial canyons. One
portion of the South Fork canyon, known as the Kings Canyon, gives the entire park its name. Kings Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in the United States. The canyon was carved by glaciers out of
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granites can be pink to dark gray or even black, depending on their...
. The Kings Canyon, and its developed area, Cedar Grove, is the only portion of the main part of
the park that is accessible by motor vehicle. Both the Kings Canyon, and its Middle Fork twin,
Tehipite Valley, are glacial “Yosemites” – deeply incised glacial gorges with relatively flat floors
and towering granite cliffs thousands of feet high.
To the east of the canyons are the high peaks of the Sierra Crest culminating in high
North PalisadeNorth Palisade is the third highest mountain in the Sierra Nevada range of California. It is the highest peak of the Palisades group of peaks in the central part of the range. It sports a small glacier and several highly prized rock climbing routes on its northeast side.- History :North Palisade...
, the highest point in the park. This is classic high Sierra country: barren
alpineIn physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tūndâr, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra...
ridges and glacially scoured lake-filled basins. Usually snow free only from late June until late October, the high country is accessible only via foot and horse trails. The Sierran crest forms the eastern boundary of the park, from Mount Goethe in the north, down to
Junction PeakJunction Peak is a thirteener in the Sierra Nevada. Joseph Nisbet LeConte chose this name in 1896, since it marks the point where the Sierra Crest crosses the water divide of the Kern and Kings Rivers...
, at the boundary with
Sequoia National ParkSequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Visalia, California, in the United States of America. It was established in 1890 as the second U.S. national park, after Yellowstone National Park. The park spans...
. Several well-travelled passes cross the crest into the park, including Bishop Pass, Taboose Pass, Sawmill Pass, and Kearsarge Pass. All of these passes are above elevation.
See also
- Ecology of the Sierra Nevada
- List of books about the Sierra Nevada for further reading
- Deadman Canyon
Deadman Canyon is a glacier-carved canyon in Kings Canyon National Park. Its namesake is an Iberian sheep-herder who died and is buried there.- Geography :...
- Sierra Nevada (U.S.)
- List of U.S. National Parks by Elevation
External links