Kings Canyon National Park California

Enter the park via the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway (Route 180), having spent the night in Fresno or Visalia. Better yet, wake up already in Grant Grove Village, perhaps in the John Muir Lodge. Stock up for a picnic with takeout food from the Grant Grove Restaurant, or purchase prepackaged food from the nearby market. Drive east a mile to see the General Grant Tree and compact Grant Grove’s other sequoias. If it’s no later than midmorning, walk up the short trail at Panoramic Point, for a great view of Hume Lake and the High Sierra. 

Either way, return to Route 180 and continue east. Stop at Junction View to take in several noteworthy peaks that tower over Kings Canyon. From here, visit Boyden Cavern or continue to Cedar Grove Village, pausing along the way for a gander at Grizzly Falls. Eat at a table by the South Fork of the Kings River, or on the deck of the Cedar Grove Snack Bar. 

Now you are ready for the day’s highlight, strolling Zumwalt Meadow, which lies a few miles past the village. After you have enjoyed that short trail and the views it offers of Grand Sentinel and North Dome, you might as well go the extra mile to Roads End, where backpackers embark on the High Sierra wilderness. Make the return trip—with a quick stop at Roaring River Falls—past Grant Grove and briefly onto southbound Generals Highway. 

Pullover at the Redwood Mountain Overlook and use binoculars to look down upon the world’s largest sequoia grove, then drive another couple of miles to the Kings Canyon Overlook, where you can survey some of what you have done today. If you’ve made reservations and have time, have a late dinner at Wuksachi Lodge.

Lonar Meteorite Crater

If you like off-beat adventures, travel to Lonar to explore a prehistoric natural wonder. About 50,000 years ago, a meteorite slammed into the earth here, leaving behind a massive crater, 2km across and 170m deep. In scientific jargon, it’s the only hypervelocity natural impact crater in basaltic rock in the world. Inlay terms, it’s as tranquil and relaxing a spot as you could hope to find, with a shallow green lake at its base and wilderness all around. 

The lake water is supposedly alkaline and excellent for the skin. Scientists think that the meteorite is still embedded about 600m below the southeastern rim of the crater. The crater’s edge is home to several Hindu temples as well as wildlife, including langurs, peacocks, deer, and an array of birds. MTDC Tourist Complex has a prime location just across the road from the crater, and offers eight rooms of relatively good value, considering the location. 

Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery.

Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery. FAMILY A large colony of elephant seals (at last count 22,000) gathers every year at Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, on the beaches near Piedras Blancas Lighthouse. The huge males with their pendulous, trunklike noses typically start appearing onshore in late November, and the females begin to arrive in December to give birth—most babies are born in the last two weeks of January. 

The newborn pups spend about four weeks nursing before their mothers head out to sea, leaving them on their own; the “weaners” leave the rookery when they are about 3½ months old. The seals return in the spring and summer months to molt or rest, but not en masse as in winter. You can watch them from a boardwalk along the bluffs just a few feet above the beach; do not attempt to approach them as they are wild animals. The nonprofit Friends of the Elephant Seal runs a small visitor center and gift shop (250 San Simeon Avenue) in San Simeon.