Visit California's 7 Secret Spots In Sequoia National Park That Most Tourists Miss

Around 40 different groves of giant sequoias can be found within Sequoia National Park. Sequoias are the largest trees in the world, reaching as high as a 26-story skyscraper, and they can live for thousands of years. The 629-square-mile park encompasses far more than sequoia groves, however. It's home to majestic peaks and vast canyons, the magnificent Crystal Cave, thousands of streams and lakes, and other kinds of coniferous trees, including pine, cedar, and fir. 

Given the much higher volume of TripAdvisor reviews for these park sites compared to others, visitors tend to focus on the park's Giant Forest section and its General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in North America, as well as the towering granite dome of Moro Rock. These places are spectacular and deserve the attention they get and more. But visitors who expand beyond them will find many other treasures, minus the crowds.  

We did some research to identify some of the park's most sparkling hidden gems, where you can experience the grandeur of a sequoia grove in relative solitude, and stand in awed silence for as long as you like, marveling at the endless auburn trunks and blue-green foliage of these massive beings. Our list also showcases other landscapes in the park besides its magnificent forests, such as rushing rivers and sub-alpine valleys. There are also a few surprises, like pictograph-splashed rocks and historic cabins. These seven special spots are Mineral King, Muir Grove, the Little Baldy Trail, the Dead Giant Trail, the Potwisha Suspension Bridge, Hospital Rock, and the Hazelwood Nature Trail. 

Giant trees do not blanket all of Sequoia National Park, and striking proof of this fact is Mineral King, an underrated glacial valley in the southern area of the park. For a solitary experience in one of the highest and most remote parts of the park, escape to Mineral King's harsh sub-alpine landscapes, where majestic forest gives way to jagged rocks and glittering lakes.  

Plan to spend the whole day driving there, as the access road is winding, narrow, and partially unpaved. There are two small campgrounds in Mineral King near hiking trails for those who want to brave the wilderness on foot.

Within Sequoia National Park, the Giant Forest isn't the only spot to experience sequoias in all their glory. Muir Grove — which the National Park Service describes as "off the beaten path" — is a quiet sequoia grove named after John Muir, a forest conservation advocate instrumental in the park's establishment.

The 4-mile round-trip trail with the same name (Muir Grove) travels along a ridgeline, serving up views of granite formations Big Baldy and Chimney Rocks before arriving at the grove, where a battalion of sequoias stand sentinel over the woodland, as if paying homage to their beloved naturalist. 

Many park visitors do the quick climb up Moro Rock for panoramic views. However, another park location offers equally magnificent vistas, and its tiny number of TripAdvisor reviews (29 compared to Moro Rock's 1,500+) suggests it's not nearly as busy.  

The steep, 3.4-mile round-trip hike climbs 790 feet through wildflower-strewn woodlands to reach the roughly 8,000-foot-high granite summit, with views spanning the Great Western Divide and the San Joaquin Valley on a clear day. Noah Lang Photography states that the summit is one of the best places in the park to watch both the sunrise and sunset.

Another place to admire sequoias is the overlooked Dead Giant Trail. This one flies so far under the radar that TripAdvisor hasn't even listed it yet! The short 0.7-mile trail winds through a sequoia-dotted woodland, passing a "dead giant" that perished in a wildfire and now rests on the forest floor. 

There's also a surprise waiting at the end of this trail: a historic squatter's cabin. It's not as otherworldly as nearby Boyden Cavern, one of the top 5 caves in California according to traveler reviews. Nonetheless, the tiny structure is fascinating to see and read about.

Near the park's Potwisha Campground is a cool suspension bridge over a gorgeous stretch of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River. Travel bloggers like Flying Dawn Marie and Irene Koutny have praised this place in recent years. Yet it isn't mentioned on TripAdvisor or on the Sequoia National Park website, so it still qualifies as a hidden gem. 

An approximately 0.5-mile round-trip trail leads from the Generals Highway to the bridge. The large flat boulders along the river here are perfect for relaxing, but be mindful of the strong current if you choose to wade or swim. 

Hospital Rock, a lovely picnic area on the Kaweah River, does not appear to be well-known, given its low volume of TripAdvisor reviews. Yet, there's much to discover in this place, which was once an important Native American village. 

Ancient designs known as pictographs cover giant boulders, and small indentations in the granite called bedrock mortars remain where inhabitants ground acorns into flour. Signage placed throughout the picnic area explains the history behind these cultural relics and the Native Americans who once thrived here. If you visit Hospital Rock, pack your curiosity along with your picnic lunch. 

The Hazelwood Nature Trail Loop is another that appears on TripAdvisor with very few reviews — in fact, it has only one at the time of this writing. After a day of sightseeing in busier parts of the park — including the ever-popular Big Trees Trail right across the road — unwind with a serene stroll around this loop.

This nearly 0.5-mile trail first passes through a tunnel log and then travels through a meadow and a mixed-fir forest with sequoias and other conifer trees. This area of the park is great for spotting black bears, deer, yellow-bellied marmots, and a variety of birds.