After three days in Yosemite NP, we heading south to Kings Canyon and the nearby Sequoia National Park (which are so close they are managed as one park). Despite being only a three hour drive, these parks get half the visitor numbers of Yosemite but are almost equally spectacular. It's very hard to capture on camera the magnificence of the drive into the canyon because it's all switchbacks and roads winding round cliff faces, but it's an exhilarating drive which descends about 4500ft. Amazingly we saw cyclists towards the top of the ascent - that's got to be one of the hardest hill climbs I've ever seen. Kings Canyon is actually deeper than the Grand Canyon! Vista's open up round almost every corner, and when you finally reach the bottom of the canyon the road follows the Kings river for some more spectacular driving. The King Canyon Scenic Byway is a road to nowhere - it takes you into the canyon and ends almost at the start of the official park entrance - most of this park can't be seen by road. There are two waterfalls right by the road, Grizzly Falls and Roaring River falls, although roaring river it certainly wasn't when we visited. We stayed at the fun Montecito Sequoia Lodge, which is primarily a family activity centre in the middle of the park. Because of this focus they provide all manner of sports and activities - archery, table tennis, horseriding, kayaking, sailing - you name it. We only stayed one night, but loved the laid back atmosphere - we arrived too late for supper (the meals are buffet style) so we were shown to the kitchen and told we could help ourselves! It's not your usual hotel, but in our opinion was the better for it.
