Kings Canyon NP

Kings Canyon National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
View of Kings Canyon, looking south from Paradise Valley
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Location	United States Fresno County & Tulare County, California
Nearest city	Fresno
Coordinates	36°47′21″N 118°40′22″W / 36.78928°N 118.67286°W / 36.78928; -118.67286Coordinates: 36°47′21″N 118°40′22″W / 36.78928°N 118.67286°W / 36.78928; -118.67286
Area	461,901 acres (1,869.25 km2)
Established	October 1, 1890 (General Grant National Park) March 4, 1940 (Kings Canyon National Park)
Visitors	692,932 (in 2017)
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Official site

Kings Canyon National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California in the United States. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, it was greatly expanded and renamed to Kings Canyon National Park on March 4, 1940. Its namesake, Kings Canyon, is a rugged glacier-carved valley more than a mile (1,600 m) deep; the park also includes multiple 14,000-foot (4,300 m) peaks, high mountain meadows, swift-flowing rivers, and some of the world's largest stands of giant sequoia trees. Kings Canyon is north of and contiguous with Sequoia National Park, and the two are jointly administered by the National Park Service as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

The majority of the 461,901-acre (186,925 ha) park, drained by the Middle and South Forks of the Kings River and many smaller streams, is designated wilderness. Tourist facilities are concentrated in two areas: Grant Grove, home to General Grant (the second largest tree in the world, measured by trunk volume) and Cedar Grove/Kanawyers, located in the heart of Kings Canyon. Overnight hiking is required to access most of the park's backcountry, or high country, which for much of the year is covered in deep snow. The combined Pacific Crest Trail/John Muir Trail, a popular backpacking route, traverses the entire length of the park from north to south.