High Sierra Trail | |
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![]() Trail near Hamilton Lake | |
Length | 49 miles (79 km) [1] |
Location | Sequoia National Park, Tulare County, California, USA |
Trailheads | |
Use | Hiking |
Highest point | 10,700 feet (3,300 m) [1] |
Lowest point | 6,700 feet (2,000 m) [1] |
The High Sierra Trail (HST) is a hiking trail in Sequoia National Park, California. The trail crosses the Sierra Nevada from west to east. According to the Yosemite Decimal System, the HST is a Class 1/Class 2 trail, which means simple scrambling, with the possibility of occasional use of the hands for balance. [2]
From the plateau of the Giant Forest at Crescent Meadow (elevation 6,700 ft or 2,000 m) the trail travels high on the northern wall of the canyon of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River to Bearpaw Meadow. This first 11.4 miles (18.3 km) of the trail is a popular though strenuous two-day round trip hike. The Bearpaw Meadow High Sierra Camp (a simple tent hotel) located here dates back to 1934. [3]
Leaving the meadow, the trail climbs through the Hamilton Lakes Basin to Kaweah Gap which, at 10,700 feet (3,300 m), is one of the lowest passes over the Great Western Divide within the park. From this pass, the route descends into Big Arroyo and then climbs to the Chagoopa Plateau, only to drop again to 6,700 feet (2,000 m) in the Kern River Canyon. After following along the Kern River, it turns east and climbs parallel to Wallace Creek to the junction with the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail 48.9 miles (78.7 km) from Crescent Meadow. This is the end of the High Sierra Trail. Hikers may continue on the John Muir Trail 12.6 miles (20.3 km) to the summit of Mount Whitney.
The Mount Whitney Trail branches to the east from the John Muir Trail 2.4 miles (3.9 km) south of Mount Whitney's summit, and descends to Whitney Portal located at the end of the road from Lone Pine, California. From Crescent Meadow to Whitney Portal, the trail is 72.2 miles (116.2 km) long and often takes 6 days or more for the average hiker to complete. The fastest claimed time to traverse is 15 hours 46 minutes, by Leor Pantilat. [4]
Work began on the High Sierra Trail in 1928, and it was the first Sierra trail built solely for recreational use.
Hikers should check with park rangers before planning a trip with riding or pack stock. At least one section of the trail is closed to stock, and grazing is limited in many areas.
The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. It is named after John Muir, a naturalist.
Mount Whitney is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). It is in East–Central California, in the Sierra Nevada, on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, and 84.6 miles (136.2 km) west-northwest of North America's lowest topographic point, Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, at 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. The mountain's west slope is in Sequoia National Park and the summit is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail, which runs 211.9 mi (341.0 km) from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. The eastern slopes are in Inyo National Forest in Inyo County. Mount Whitney is ranked 18th by topographic isolation.
Kings Canyon National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and renamed on March 4, 1940. The park's namesake, Kings Canyon, is a rugged glacier-carved valley more than a mile (1,600 m) deep. Other natural features include 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 both parks are jointly administered by the National Park Service as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects 404,064 acres of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 m), the park contains the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) above sea level. The park is south of, and contiguous with, Kings Canyon National Park; both parks are administered by the National Park Service together as Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. UNESCO designated the areas as Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve in 1976.
Mount Muir is a peak in the Sierra Nevada of California, 0.95 miles (1.5 km) south of Mount Whitney. This 14,018-foot (4,273 m) peak is named in honor of John Muir, a geologist, conservationist and founder of the Sierra Club. The southernmost section of the John Muir Trail contours along the west side of Mount Muir near its summit and ends on the summit of Mount Whitney.
The Kaweah River is a river draining the southern Sierra Nevada in Tulare County, California in the United States. Fed primarily by high elevation snowmelt along the Great Western Divide, the Kaweah begins as four forks in Sequoia National Park, where the watershed is noted for its alpine scenery and its dense concentrations of giant sequoias, the largest trees on Earth. It then flows in a southwest direction to Lake Kaweah – the only major reservoir on the river – and into the San Joaquin Valley, where it diverges into multiple channels across an alluvial plain around Visalia. With its Middle Fork headwaters starting at almost 13,000 feet (4,000 m) above sea level, the river has a vertical drop of nearly two and a half miles (4.0 km) on its short run to the San Joaquin Valley, making it one of the steepest river drainages in the United States. Although the main stem of the Kaweah is only 33.6 miles (54.1 km) long, its total length including headwaters and lower branches is nearly 100 miles (160 km).
Mount Langley is a mountain located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada, on the boundary between Inyo and Tulare counties in eastern California, in the United States. To the east is the Owens Valley, and to the west is the Kern River Valley. It is the ninth-highest peak in the state and the seventh-highest in the Sierra. Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States, lies 4.8 miles (7.7 km) to the northwest. Mount Langley also has the distinction of being the southernmost fourteener in the United States.
The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within the United States' Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over 6,000 ft (1,800 m) above mean sea level in the western Sierra Nevada of California, covers an area of 1,880 acres (7.6 km2). The Giant Forest is the most accessible of all giant sequoia groves, as it has over 40 mi (64 km) of hiking trails.
Jennie Lakes Wilderness is a protected area in the Sierra Nevada, in Tulare County, California. It is located 60 miles (97 km) east of Fresno and managed by the US Forest Service. Jennie Lakes Wilderness is about nine square miles within the Sequoia National Forest, that was established by the California Wilderness Act of 1984, and added to the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Florence Peak is a mountain located on the Great Western Divide, a sub-range of the southern Sierra Nevada of California. It is located about 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of the community of Silver City and 4.5 miles (7.2 km) from the roads end at Mineral King. It marks the southern boundary of Sequoia National Park. On the summit the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness, the John Krebs Wilderness and Golden Trout Wilderness meet.
The South Sierra Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area in the Southern Sierra Nevada, in eastern California. It is located 65 miles (105 km) northeast of Bakersfield, and is southwest of Owens Lake and Olancha.
The Golden Trout Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area in the Sierra Nevada, in Tulare County and Inyo County, California. It is located 40 miles (64 km) east of Porterville within Inyo National Forest and Sequoia National Forest.
The High Sierra Camps are nine rustic lodging facilities located in two national parks and a national monument in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range. Open most years from June or July to September, they are staffed camps with tent cabins and food service facilities. The backcountry camps receive their supplies by pack mules.
Mount Hitchcock is a 13,186-foot-elevation (4,019-meter) mountain summit located west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Tulare County, California. It is situated in Sequoia National Park, and is two miles (3.2 km) south-southwest of Mount Whitney, 1.3 miles (2.1 km) southwest of Mount Muir, and 1.1 miles (1.8 km) west of Trail Crest. Topographic relief is significant as it rises approximately 1,500 feet above Hitchcock Lakes in less than one-half mile. Mt. Hitchcock ranks as the 112th highest summit in California.
Mount Young is a 13,176-foot-elevation (4,016-meter) mountain summit located west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Tulare County, California. It is situated in Sequoia National Park, and is two miles (3.2 km) west of Mount Whitney, one mile northwest of Guitar Lake, and one mile southwest of Mount Hale, the nearest higher neighbor. The John Muir Trail traverses below the south and west aspects of the mountain, providing access. Topographic relief is significant as the southwest aspect rises 2,300 feet above Whitney Creek in approximately one mile. Mt. Young ranks as the 117th highest summit in California.
Mount Eisen is a 12,185-foot-elevation (3,714-meter) double summit mountain located on the Great Western Divide of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Tulare County of northern California. It is situated in Sequoia National Park, 1.6 miles (2.6 km) south of Lippincott Mountain. Mount Eisen ranks as the 380th highest summit in California. Topographic relief is significant as the south aspect rises 3,500 feet above Pinto Lake in one mile. The summit can be reached from the southeast ridge via a long class 2 hike from Black Rock Pass.
Picket Guard Peak is a 12,302-foot-elevation (3,750 meter) mountain summit located west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Tulare County, California. It is situated in Sequoia National Park, two miles southwest of Kern Point, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) north of Mount Kaweah, and three miles east of the junction of Kaweah Peaks Ridge with Great Western Divide. Picket Guard Peak ranks as the 345th-highest summit in California, and topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 4,265 feet above Kern Canyon in approximately three miles.
Mather Pass is a high mountain pass in the U.S. state of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range. It lies within far eastern Fresno County, inside Kings Canyon National Park and the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness. The pass lies at an elevation of 12,068 feet, separating Palisade Basin to the north and Upper Basin to the south.
Cliff Creek is an 8.5-mile long creek in Tulare County, California in Sequoia National Park. It is a major tributary of the Middle Fork Kaweah River and has its source high in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.