Wuksachi Lodge - Sequoia National Park

Giant Forest Village and Camp Kaweah were established in 1926 amid the giant sequoia groves of the Giant Forest. The facilities at the two locations provided lodging, camping, and concessions for park visitors. Over the years, the park service realized that the facilities were affecting the sequoias and determined to mitigate the impact by removing most of the facilities in the Giant Forest. Part of the plan involved relocating lodging to a new village to be built about five miles north of the Giant Forest and well outside the sequoia groves. Proposed in 1970, construction of Wuksachi Village began in the 1985 with employee housing. Visitor lodging at the new site was opened in June 1999.

We arrived at the Wuksachi Lodge just before dusk during our March 2018 visit to Sequoia National Park. Located at 7000', the lodge had plenty of snow for my satisfaction with more predicted overnight. After checking in, we drove to our assigned building and parked. Even though it was early in the evening, a lodge employee operating a Bobcat with a snowblower attachment was still clearing the sidewalks and parking lot. He said a crew would be working all night, if need be, to keep up with the expected snowfall. We put our ice cleats on over our boots before carrying the luggage up the path to the Stewart Building. Our room was typical of park service lodges, clean and well maintained, but spartan. It met our needs well. We ate one meal in the restaurant. It was hot, filling, and reasonably priced. We plan to stay at Wuksachi Lodge on our next visit to Sequoia National Park.

While it was too dark and foggy to take any pictures that evening, I did manage to take a few of the exterior of our building, the lodge, and the surrounding area the following two mornings.

A luggage cart left out overnight displays two inches of overnight snow

The path to the Stewart Building was still icy on the first morning

Fog was lifting on the first morning

Stewart Building from the parking area

Shaping up to be a beautiful day in Sequoia National Park

Parking area the first morning

Main building houses front desk and a restaurant on the main floor

View from our restaurant table

An unnamed 9182' peak northeast of Lodgepole peaks through the clouds

A closer view of the 9182' peak on the left and a 7542' peak on the right

Back side of the Stewart Building

Building entrance after a sunny day and above freezing night

Sidewalk back to the parking area was clear on the second morning

View from the parking area

Luggage carts lined up for new arrivals

Wuksachi Lodge from its parking area

Undisturbed powder near the lodge

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.