Earlier this month, we hopped in the car to drive from San Francisco to a place I’ve been dreaming about for a while now: Sequoia National Park. Why exactly have I been dreaming about Sequoias since I was a young girl, you might ask?
Funnily enough, Sequoia was actually one of the first words I ever learned to spell in my elementary school in Albany (I also took French there), and I’ll always remember that because it was so hard to spell. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to go and visit. And, quite honestly, it’s pure magic.
Funny the things we remember from our childhood, isn’t it?
We hopped in our rented Jaguar around early and drove the roughly 4.5 hours to get to Sequoia National Park, all with our little muffin in the back seat. In other words, the Sequoia National Park, like most national parks in the states, makes for a great family travel getaway.
We stayed at the Wuksachi Lodge, which was nice since it was right there inside the park. This was much preferred to our lodging in Yellowstone, which, although nice, was about an hours drive to and from the park each day. Definitely not recommended.
We originally thought we had a kitchen in our room and we had bought food to cook for the rest of the trip, but we didn’t, so we ate at the hotel restaurant. It turned out to be really nice, though, because the restaurant was in a separate lodge, which allowed us to explore a bit, and it was surrounded by windows which were surrounded by … you guessed it … trees!
So the sequoias are … absolutely everything I imagined they would be and more. We didn’t even have one full day to spend in the park, but we made darn sure to check out all the main attractions: The General Sherman Tree (the largest tree in the world by mass), The Congress Trail, the Moro Rock Trail (well I didn’t do this — too steep for my preggers self — but Chris did, and the views were spectacular), Crescent Meadow, and so much more. Chris even went for a run in the morning and came across a bear (he was trying to btw), so that made his trip!
Really, though, just to be there, walking among those beautiful, tall trees, that was all I needed to feel more relaxed than I’ve felt in … ummm… years?! It’s an amazing experience that I think everyone should make a priority at some point. Nature can be your saving grace at the worst of times.
And, look at their magical sunsets at the end of a day.
Wildlife in Sequoia National Park
Wildlife is prevalent in Sequoia National Park as well.
And that was Sequoia National Park and King’s Canyon, in a nutshell. It was fast and furious through the park, but I really feel like we got to see a lot of it, and what we did see was glorious. Love you, sequoia trees. Thanks for being so amazing. 
Cheryl Lock is a former magazine, newspaper and website editor turned full-time freelance writer. She has worked on staff at the Daytona Beach News-Journal, More and Parents magazines, as well as for Learnvest, the leading women’s financial website. Her work has also appeared in Newsweek, Forbes, Ladies’ Home Journal, the Huffington Post, AOL Travel and more.
Cheryl was born in Nuremberg, Germany and grew up moving around every few years as an Army brat. The urge to travel has been with her her whole life. While she calls New York City home, Cheryl makes it a priority to travel as much as possible throughout the year. Some of her favorite places include Iceland, the Great Barrier Beef, Cabo, Rome, Calabria and Munich, although she hopes to never stop exploring. Cheryl blogs about her travel adventures (and what’s happening in and around New York City) at Weary Wanderer.
