From today's Fresno Bee, a detailed description of skiing up Big Baldy, one of the Parks' best hikes, winter and summer. The trailhead is only 25 minutes from fivespot!
vacation rentals
top things to do in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park
Editor's note: In August 2010, Beth Manning and her family spent a week at fivespot. On their departure, I was amazed to find a detailed and personal description of family-friendly spots to visit in Sequoia-Kings Canyon in the guestbook. With Beth's permission, I am posting it and her fantastic photos of Zumwalt Meadow, its bears, and Panorama Point, here for the world to see! And check out her blogs: http://marrymejohnmuir.com (her solo hike on the John Muir trail), http://lickofmylips.com/ (fiction/poetry) and www.prettygoodday.com (life's little things).
AWESOMENESS we recommend (we visited and loved these places, traveling with kids ages 6, 8, 11 and 16):
In/near Grant Grove
- Hume Lake: easy to swim and play all day (gas sold here, too), kids loved playing on the floating logs
- Dead Giant Loop (hike): about 2.2 easy, mostly shady miles; great spot for a picnic with lovely view of Sequoia Lake
- Panoramic Point: BEAUTIFUL! Quite a few cars parked in the lot and everyone marveling at the—well—panorama. But very few on the trail, which was AMAZING! We took the Ridge Trail to the fire road and took the fire road back to make for a 3-mile loop. If our kids were a little less tired we would have loved to do the whole trail to the fire lookout. Don't miss the trail! It's wonderful!
Kings Canyon Byway/Cedar Grove
- The Byway: It's a long drive to Road's End, but absolutely gorgeous. We did it twice, with different stops each time.
- Zumwalt Meadow: easy 1.5 mile loop, extremely beautiful! And … we saw a Mama Bear and two cuter-than-anything cubs! HOORAY!
- Muir Rock: For swimming, I like this spot even better than Hume Lake. Maybe because jumping off the rock into the clear, deep water is so much fun! Also, lots of calm, shallow river for kids to play in (note: this is only possible late in the summer season).
- Roaring River Falls: just off the road; a quick fun stop.
- Grizzly Falls: ditto. This is a more classic fall, with a long drop and a refreshing mist .
- Boyden Cavern: Less famous/fancy than Crystal Cave, but my 11-year-old and I (who visited both) liked this one better, maybe because the tour was more intimate and homey. Our one-hour tour ended up being 90 minutes thanks to a friendly, interesting tour guide and a relaxed vibe. (Also, we were the last tour of the day, at 5 pm).
Lodgepole area
- Only spent one day around here. We want to come back and hike and explore more Giant Forest trails.
- Tokopah Falls: A great, beautiful riverside hike, 1.7 miles up and then 1.7 miles down. A popular hike so you'll see plenty of other people on the trail, but it's so gorgeous that it's worth sharing. Near the falls, everyone except me saw a bear eating berries; all I saw was the branches moving around. There's a COLD deep pool at the top, fed by the falls - just a few crazy folks (including my 16- and 11-year-old boys) jumping in. On the way down, we found plenty of spots where the younger kids could splash around.
Have fun! And while you're at fivespot, enjoy:
- sitting on the hill
- hanging on the patio
- perusing the books and the knick knacks on the mantle
- sauna and an outdoor shower, with peppermint soap
- counting hummingbirds and butterflies
Peace!
Badger Creek vacation rentals
In addition to fivespot cabin, Bachrun and I also manage vacation rentals at Badger Creek Development, a large property near Pinehurst in Badger (3000' elevation). Pictured above are a small cabin (for 1 or 2 people) and a large 3-bedroom, 2-bath home that sleeps 9.
Coming soon is an art studio, which can be rented for two weeks up to two months. The Sierras have long been a popular retreat for artists and writers who want to work in and explore this marvelous environment. In fact, Bachrun's art studio is in one of the old buildings on the property.
Badger Creek Development is a 377-acre spread, with scenic rolling hills, a seasonal creek and stocked pond, is home to huge old oak trees, manzanita, pines, meadows, huge boulders, walking paths, deer, wild boar, bear, bobcats, bass, and birds of all sorts.
Previously developed, the property is now owned by architect Reinhard Hesse and a group of investors. It is slated to become a sustainable, energy-efficient community of 170 LEED-certified homes, and commercial and office space. As a partner in the green energy firm Frontier Renewables, Hesse plans to convert an existing airstrip into a 3-megawatt solar PV plant.
So if fivespot is already booked, if your group is large, or you've got pets, you've got options at Badger Creek! It's a great place for kids and dogs to run around, and for bicycling, fishing, bird- and wildlife-watching. See more photos and descriptions on the pages listed in the left sidebar.
what is fivespot cabin?
Peace and quiet: it's what you come to the mountains for.
Fivespot cabin is such a place in the California Sierras, art-filled and inspiring. Great for couples or 2 or 3 friends and lots of fun for small families, stay for a week or a weekend. Enjoy the books, the sauna and outdoor shower, the claw-foot bathtub, the fireplace, and piles of pillows and throws.
Feeling creative? Add something to the chalkboard wall, or stroll to the hilltop behind the cabin and sketch the surrounding foothills. Several painters and writers have already used fivespot as a personal artistic retreat - maybe you will be next.
And the main reason to stay at fivespot: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Fivespot is situated in the Giant Sequoia National Monument, and the towering trees are only 15 minutes from the cabin. Awesome Kings Canyon is an hour from the sequoias - a jaw-dropping ride down one of the USA's deepest canyons.
Visit us in this lesser-known (and much less crowded) part of the Sierras. Find yourselves alone on the delightful trails and get back to the cabin for more solitude. Or head on down to the Pinehurst Lodge (a 3-minute walk from fivespot) for a drink and dinner. It's a great alternative to the over-populated Yosemite experience.
We will update this site frequently with news of the area, pictures and videos of hikes we recommend, snow updates, and local chatter.
