I was blown away on my first visit to California’s national parks. You hear so much about California, about how there are too many people, taxes are too high, pollution, and so forth. What you don’t hear is that the state is blessed with millions upon millions of acres of pristine national park and national forest lands. I would even say that the amount of such land in California embarrasses most other states. And chief among these landscapes is the gigantic sequoia and redwood groves. The sequoias are an inland species, living in much drier climates. Redwoods are a coastal species.

I found Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park to be one of the most impressive parks I’ve ever seen. When you are standing amongst the ancient groves, you can’t help but feel as if you’ve somehow traveled to another planet. Completely surreal.

The camping in Sequoia-Kings Canyon was quite good as well. And in some campgrounds, you can pitch your tent within some of these majestic groves.

Below is a photo of the author. Now that’s a tree! For reference purposes, I’m 6’3 and 200 pounds.

I look forward to visiting California’s great parks again one day. The sooner, the better.