We had read that another “must do” activity in Sequoia National Park was to hike up Moro Rock. We drove to the Giant Forest Museum which is where the trailhead starts. I was surprised to find this Museum actually open, and it was well worth the visit. This was clearly evidenced by the parking lot, which was filled to capacity (on a Wednesday in May). We had to park in the overflow lot and took a short trail to the visitor center, passing Beetle Rock, which boasts an excellent view all the way to the Coastal Range….if we had a clear day.
Inside the Giant Forest Museum there is an old-timey movie running that shows how the sequoias were abused by early park visitors. This video is well worth watching, and even has one scene where deer are eating food right off of a plate through a dining room window. Man were people naive back then!
The trail to Moro Rock starts just outside the museum. In another week you will actually be able to drive to Moro Rock and climb up from the parking lot there, but as of now the road remains closed for the season. Resist the temptation to do so, as there is a lot to see on foot. This is a rather easy 3.6 mile round trip hike. The hardest part is the hike up the rock itself, but that’s pretty short. You may even see some wildlife along the way.
There is no zoom on that photo. This Brown Bear was maybe 20 feet away. Didn’t seem to care about the dozen or so people who were shooting photos.
This cool set of trees was just begging for a picture.
This next shot is of the root side of the Auto Log.
It’s called the Auto Log because in the 1920’s people would park their cars on top of it to get photos.
We left the paved road for the trail about .3 miles from Moro Rock, only to have to side step back down to the road about half way there due to several fallen trees blocking the path. It was a very steep and unsafe diversion!
We reached the start of the path up Moro Rock shortly thereafter. Here is a shot of the first part of the trail.
A fallen tree along the side of the rock makes for nice framing.
The trail as we are nearing the top.
This is what the top of Moro Rock looks like. Reminds me a little of a mini Half Dome (although with lots of safety rails).
Here is a shot of the western side of the rock face.
On our way back down we heard sirens and saw an ambulance stop not too far from the start of the Moro Rock climb. Somebody who had to side step down the same steep hill from the blocked path had fallen and hit their head on the road. We told the rangers why people were walking down the hill so they could block off that portion of the trail. They had no idea.
On our way back we saw this very cool completely hollowed out sequoia that was still standing. Looks a lot like a chimney, and probably acted like one whenever it caught on fire.
We tried taking the dirt trail back versus the paved road. This area was hit by a fire not that long ago, and there were fallen branches and trees everywhere. We lost the trail about half way back and had to give up and get back on the paved road.
If you come to Sequoia NP, this is definitely a must hike! I imagine it will be VERY crowded in the middle of summer, so I would come early.
