Kings Canyon National Park

Kings Canyon National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Location	Fresno County & Tulare County, California, USA
Nearest city	FresnoNearest city: Fresno
Coordinates	36°48′0″N 118°33′0″W / 36.8°N 118.55°W / 36.8; -118.55Coordinates: 36°48′0″N 118°33′0″W / 36.8°N 118.55°W / 36.8; -118.55
Area	462,901 acres (187,329 ha)
Established	March 4, 1940 Established: March 4, 1940
Visitors	552,766 (in 2006)
Governing body	National Park Service

This article is about Kings Canyon National Park, USA. For Kings Canyon, Australia, see Kings Canyon (Northern Territory).

Kings Canyon National Park is a U.S. National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Fresno, California. The park was established in 1940 and covers 462,901 acres (187,329 ha). 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 Park; the two are administered by the National Park Service as one unit, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

General Grant tree

History

Kings Canyon had been known to white settlers since the mid-1800s, but it was not until John Muir first visited in 1873 that the canyon began receiving attention. Muir was delighted at the canyon's similarity to Yosemite Valley, as it reinforced his theory regarding the origin of both valleys, which, though competing with Josiah Whitney'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 River within its boundaries.^[1]

Geography

Kearsarge Pinnacles, photo by Ansel Adams.

Dusy Basin in Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon National Park consists of two sections. The small, detached General Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park preserves several groves of giant sequoia including the General Grant Grove, with the famous General Grant Tree, and the Redwood Mountain Grove, which is the largest remaining natural Giant Sequoia grove in the world (covering 3,100 acres (1,300 ha) 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 202,430 acres (81,920 ha) of old-growth forests shared by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.^[2] This section of the park is mostly mixed conifer forest, and is readily accessible via paved highways.^[3]

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 River and the South Fork of the San Joaquin River. 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.^[3][4] The canyon was carved by glaciers out of granite. 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.^[3] In addition, the canyon contains a cave formation called Boyden Cave.

To the east of the canyons are the high peaks of the Sierra Crest culminating in 14,248-foot (4,343 m)^[5] high North Palisade, the highest point in the park. This is classic high Sierra country: barren alpine 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^[3]. The Sierran crest forms the eastern boundary of the park, from Mount Goethe in the north, down to Junction Peak, at the boundary with Sequoia National Park. 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 11,000 feet (3,400 m) elevation.

See also

Cloud Canyon, in the park's backcountry

• Ecology of the Sierra Nevada
• List of books about the Sierra Nevada for further reading
• Deadman Canyon
• Sierra Nevada (U.S.)
• List of U.S. National Parks by Elevation

References

1. ^ Farquhar, Francis P. (1926). Place Names of the High Sierra. San Francisco: Sierra Club. http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/place_names_of_the_high_sierra/k.html. Retrieved 2009-08-21. 
2. ^ Bolsinger, Charles L.; Waddell, Karen L. (1993), Area of old-growth forests in California, Oregon, and Washington, United States Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Resource Bulletin PNW-RB-197, http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rb197.pdf 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Description of the Parks" (pdf). Sequoia and Kings Canyon Fire Management Plan. http://www.nps.gov/archive/seki/fire/ffmp/pdf/seki_ffmp_fmp_8description.pdf. Retrieved 2006-11-25. 
4. ^ Hells Canyon in Oregon and Idaho is listed as the deepest. C. Alan Joyce, ed. The World Almanac (2008 ed.). New York: World Almanac Books. pp. 447. ISBN 1600570720. 
5. ^ NAVD 88 The elevation of this summit has been converted from the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29) elevation of 14,242 feet (4,341 m) to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) elevation of 14,248 feet (4,343 m). National Geodetic Survey

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kings Canyon National Park

• Official site: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park
• Panoramic photos of North Kings Canyon NP
• Panoramic photos of South Kings Canyon NP
• Panoramic photo of Kearsarge Pass, Kings Canyon NP

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