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Calaveras Sequoia State Park Calaveras Big Trees State Park
Calaveras Sequoia State Park Calaveras Big Trees State ParkLocated on the east side of Sacramento, south of Lake Tahoe, on Highway 4 north of Yosemite National Park. Established in 1931, this state park protects a large number of redwood forests, mainly divided into two parts, North grove and South grove. Among them, the North grove is very easy to walk, so it is also regarded as the "less crowded Muir Woods". The reason for this is that it's farther away from the metropolis, and it takes about three hours to drive there from San Francisco. Our itinerary this time was actually a continuation of the previous two days.Yosemite East Autumn Appreciation ItineraryThe third day after that, so the actual route was to drive west on 395, camp one night at Calaveras Big Trees State Park, and then drive back to San Francisco along 4.
As the name suggests, the park is surrounded by large trees, making it a very comfortable outdoor environment. Campgrounds are also popular in the summer. We stayed at North grove campground which has 70 spots, and there is also Oak Hollow campground, there are also 4 cabins available in the park.
Camping Environment
- Comfort: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The campground in the woods was generally comfortable and flat. It was already fall when we arrived, so the nights were a bit colder. Because of the wildfire season, it is still not possible to make fire at this time of the year, so we hid in the tents early in the evening to rest and keep warm.
- Space: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The campgrounds we saw in the neighborhood were quite spacious, and although the parking spaces were limited to maybe two cars, there was actually plenty of room for several families.
- Cleanliness: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall it was clean and the facilities were well organized.
- Convenience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
During the day it is easy to get to the nearby trails. However, because of the large size of the campgrounds, most of the campgrounds are a little far from the restrooms. The parks are generally quite remote, and the nearby towns are not very big. If you are used to going to Bay Area campgrounds where there are supermarkets and restaurants just a couple of steps away, be aware that it is basically the same as staying in a national park.
- Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I am very satisfied with the camping environment because I like cedar forests very much. The best thing about coming here in the fall is that you can enjoy the fall scenery at the same time. The only thing you have to be careful of is that there are bears in the forest. We heard bears rummaging through other people's cars in the distance at night, so be sure to keep your food safe.
The trail to North grove goes through a large meadow and is just off to the side.
North Grove Trail
North Grove is the main gathering place for tourists, although it is said that there are not many people here, so it is very relaxing here. North grove trail is a very flat trail, the whole walk is about 1.67 miles.
As soon as we walked in from the campground, we first saw a big tree that had been cut down, which is the signature Discovery Stump. The first person to discover North grove was named Dowd, and it is said that he accidentally came to this forest with huge trees in 1852 after chasing a bear. No one believed his description of the trees, so he brought a group of people with him, and the story was later reported in the newspaper. Eager to explore the forest (and make money), the tree was cut down and sent to San Francisco for display. It took five men and 22 days to cut down the tree, and we can still see the remaining section.
The trail is filled with spectacular giant cedar trees, the trees are really tall and the park even set up chairs for us to lie down and look at them.
Although it is mainly a cedar forest, there are also other trees in the park, such as the shorter mountain dogwood whose leaves change color, and it is the right time to appreciate the fall colors in this season. On the way to the park, we met a volunteer who came to inspect the park and said that it is the best time to enjoy the fall colors.
At the entrance of the trail, you can get an English explanation, which is very detailed for a state park, and the important parts of the trail are numbered to help you understand the ecology and history of the forest.
There is a fallen hollow tree trunk in the trail called Father of the forest, we can see how tall and big a big tree can be from the fallen trunk, the whole trunk is hollow and adults can walk in it.
History has also left traces of man's destruction of nature, the most saddening of which is this tree called Mother of the forest, whose entire bark was stripped off by the people of the past to make souvenirs, and in the end, such a tall tree could no longer transport water and died. Now the evidence is left to remind future generations to protect nature.
River Trail
On the North grove trail, near the discovery stump, there is a fork in the road with beautiful fall colors, you can walk to the Grove overlook and River trail, since the focus of our trip is to see the fall colors, we came back here to take a look after we finished the North grove trail. Originally, we wanted to go to Grove overlook, but we found out that there are not many trees in the upper part of Grove overlook, and the river trail is more beautiful in terms of fall colors.
Taking the River trail to the overlook is about 1 mile, though not long, and the view is superb, much better than the one we had at theJune lakeIt's even richer when you see it on the Internet.
Further reading
- Yosemite East Fall Tour: June lake loop, Mono lake
- North Canada Camping and Autumn Appreciation Itinerary] Calaveras Sequoia State Park Calaveras Big Trees State Park Travel Memories
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