Trip Date: 5/16/2016

Location: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park

Permit/Pass: $30 Vehicle Pass - valid 1 through 7 days. Valid for Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and the Hume Lake District of Sequoia National Forest/Giant Sequoia National Monument.

$15 Individual Entry Pass - valid 1 through 7 days. Per person entrance fee for a visitor traveling on foot, bicycle, or for individuals traveling together in a vehicle as a non-commercial, organized group.

Trail Map: NPS Map, AmericanSouthwest.net

Directions: From California Highway 99 in the San Joaquin Valley take exit 96 onto CA-198 E towards Visalia. Continue to the Ash Mountain entrance of Sequoia National Park. From here drive the winding Generals Highway into the park about 16 and a half miles to a signed right turn for the road to Moro Rock. Follow the narrow road a mile and a half to the Moro Rock parking area and trailhead. The stairs begin next to the interpretive board.

Synopsis: This is about the quickest and easiest (in terms of logistics, not necessarily effort) hike to the top of a granite dome with amazing views one could hope to find. It tends to be a popular spot, but the panorama is worth the trouble. 

Trail sequence: Moro Rock trail

Type: Out and back

Distance: 0.5 miles

Elevation: Min. -  6362', Max. - 6681'

Profile:

Rating: Easy-Moderate (factors: paved, stairs, elevation gain) 

Notes: Don't be fooled by its length, this hike is equivalent to climbing the stairs of a thirty story building. But with great views.

Track: Moro Rock - Sequoia & Kings Canyon NP: GaiaGPS, Everytrail

Turn by Turn:

  --  Find the trailhead at the beginning of the stairs next to the signboard at the southwest corner of the parking lot.

  -- Once you head up the stairs, there's no way to get lost other than falling off the rock. Try no to do this. There will be some squeezing and accommodating here and there depending upon how many people are on the rock.

  -- Enjoy the spectacle from the top, and retrace your steps to the parking area.