Congress Trail - Sequoia National Park

Continuing our March 2018 visit to Sequoia National Park, we hiked a bit more than half of the Congress Trail loop. We parked at the winter roadside parking area for the General Sherman tree. Following the trailhead near the handicap parking area and comfort station, we hiked the western side of the loop trail south to the McKinley tree and then east to The House group of trees. While the trail is paved, the pavement was not visible at any point along the route. Instead, we followed the path of packed down snow. A couple of trail signs and a kiosk ensured we were on the right path. We had considered completing the loop that the Congress Trail forms, but there were too few footprints or cross-country ski tracks to follow beyond The House group so we retraced our steps back to the McKinley tree and then north to the parking area. This made for a two mile round-trip hike. Once we returned to the trail head, we decided to find the other trail head located along the seasonally opened General Sherman access trail. Once there, we found that the eastern leg of the loop was closed for construction, so we definitely made the correct choice to retrace our steps.

Topographic map with GPS route

Elevation profile

Typical trail conditions near the trail head

Snow covered giant sequoia in the sunshine

Footbridge over Sherman Creek

Typical trail conditions

The only footprints off the trail are from wildlife

Looking up at a trail side sequoia

Snow covered boulders

Fire has scarred many trees along the trail

This leaning tree has shed most of its branches on one side to remain upright

Another trail side sequoia

Slowly recovering from fire damage

Three more fire damaged trees beyond the cross country ski track

A fallen giant

A large burl has formed on this sequoia

A large sequoia near the trail

McKinley Tree

A bit of snow on the trail

Another view of the McKinley Tree

A pair of burned trunks frame a healthy sequoia

A large sequoia on the trail...literally on the trail 

The trail likely doesn't go through this burned tree, but this was the only path in the area

The House group

Inside The House group

Entrance to Sequoia and/or Kings Canyon National Parks requires an entry fee of $30 per passenger vehicle for a 7-day pass. Any of the America the Beautiful passes may be used instead.

The park website is https://www.nps.gov/seki.