The most popular winter activity at Rainier for visiting families is sledding. While beautiful, the Paradise area features avalanche zones and deceptively steep drop-offs where sledding is unsafe. Therefore the official Paradise Sledding Area is the safest (and only) location where sledding is permitted in the park. It is, however, a huge area offering ideal sledding conditions. Ranger guided 2-mile snowshoe walks are available Saturdays and Sundays at 11:00 a.m., departing the Jackson Visitor Center. Snowmobiles are permitted along a 6.5-mile stretch of Westside Road and on the road loops at Cougar Rock Campground. Check with rangers at Carbon River Ranger Station for possible additional snowmobiling routes in the park.
Views of Mount Rainier are awesome winter or summer.
For more information: www.nps.gov/mora 360-569-2211
You’ll never tire of seeing giant redwoods.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, California Heralded as the Land of Giants, this pair of national parks, situated high in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California’s Tulare County, are home to forests of giant sequoias — the world’s largest trees. There are more superlatives. The 808,000 acres of wilderness protected by these parks represent an extraordinary continuum of ecosystems arrayed along the greatest vertical range (1,370 to 14,505 feet in elevation) of any protected area in the lower 48 states. As the most rugged portion of the High Sierra, the parks also form the core of the largest expanse of contiguous wilderness in California. Damaging wildfires followed by record snowfall and catastrophic flooding that washed out many roads effectively spoiled the 2022-23 winter season for visitors. But a massive repair project gives officials confidence that the parks will be up and running for the coming winter season. While Sequoia’s scenery is certainly compelling, people come to these two parks to see the trees
— and the giant redwood conifers are at their majestic best when draped in powdery snow. Hike, ski or snowshoe in snow-dampened silence to the General Sherman Tree — said to be the world’s largest tree. Estimated to be about 2,200 years old and standing 275 feet tall, Sherman is an impressive and unforgettable sight. Join a free, ranger-guided snowshoe walk (shoes provided) to see more sequoias in the Grant Grove area of nearby Kings Canyon National Park, including the world’s second largest tree, the General Grant Tree. Winter visitors wishing to spend more than a day at Sequoia can secure comfortable lodging at Wuksachi Lodge, located in the Giant Forest area of Sequoia National Park.
For more information: www.nps.gov/seki 559-565-3341
NATIONAL PARKS TO VISIT IN WINTER
COAST TO COAST MAGAZINE FALL 2023 | 12
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