Sequoia NP

Campground: Potwisha Campground. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.  Explore around the camp - WATCH for ticks. Cross the street and past the water refill station, there is a trail and beautiful swing bridge.  THERE IS LITTLE / NO CELL SERVICE IN THE PARK. 

Originally was heading here - to Potwisha, for the days leading up to my weekend volunteering for Riding on Insulin in Lake Tahoe. Due to the weather being on the internet and stuff.. I went directly to Lake Tahoe to beat a storm that dumped 40+ inches on the area. That snowfall draped all the way down to the bottom of the Serra Nevada Mountains where the largest trees in the world nestle themselves into beautiful mountainside scenery. To give you an idea of how quickly you ascend into the forest - Potwisha campground at around 2,100 ft. is roughly 14 miles before the General Sherman tree, where the Giant Sequoia trees thrive in the 5,000-7,000ft range.  That road, Generals Highway, part of which is pictured below - should be driven cautiously as wildlife frequent the hillsides leading in and around the park. 

Bathroom situation:  Several in the campground, clean but I can't remember the shower situation - pre-car shower so I doubt I would have taken one :) 

Food situation: Three Rivers has a few options to get food, but small options. Firewood and groceries are also available inside the park - where the showers are located. Only operated during the summer for obvious reasons, there was a few feet of fresh snow in the area. 

Ranger situation: They out there, the part of the park I was able to access is more mountain-side hiking but there are A LOT of options. 

Time of year visited:  End of Winter - if you don't have 4wheel drive and there is still a lot of snow falling, you'll need to have chains on your tires. The park services teams conduct a lot of heavy work in VERY tight areas, much respect to them. 

Recommended time to visit: Almost any time but when I went. The lower parts of the park, below 4,000 ft, didn’t have snow, but everything above that where the tall trees were did. End of March - April is perfect time to go. Hard to navigate and enjoy when there is a lot of snow - they only plow designated areas for safety reasons.