Operated as one park with two distinct, yet adjacent boundaries, you are bound to be mesmerized with these parks tucked into the beautiful Sierra mountains. The pristine setting with giants straight out of fairytales will leave you feeling infinitiely small.

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Sequoia National Park, as its name suggest, is the home to the world’s largest Sequoias. General Sherman and General Grant as the biggest boys. You must see these in person. No photograph, especially my photos, will properly put the size in perspective. If fact, with my equipment, it was impossible to capture one tree in a single frame.

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For the record, Sequoias are not the tallest trees in the world. That title belongs to the Redwoods. And they are not the widest, girthiest trees either. The Sagole Baobab in Africa holds that title. Sequoias do contain the most mass, however. Whatever the case, they stand mighty and are impressive to behold. When you consider the oldest Sequoias are older than Jesus Christ himself, they can really hold whatever title they want.

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Kings Canyon, a park I never heard of until looking at a map of the area, was a hidden treasure. After a beautiful, winding descent into the canyon, a tranquil river awaits you surrounded by quiet meadows and towering canyon walls. In my opinion, Kings Canyon was as beautiful as Yosemite Valley. But it wasn’t as crowded and busy.

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I would issue you a word of warning when pulling a trailer to or through either of these parks. For starters, you cannot pass through Sequoia National Park with a trailer longer than 21 feet due to the extremely curvy park roads. Getting to the parks themselves require you to take narrow roads with steep incline and declines. My hefty V8 didn’t have a problem; it also helped that I was in no rush.

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These two parks could easily consume and rightly deserve a dedicated vacation. Save Yosemite for a separate trip next year. You’ll be glad you gave Sequoia and Kings Canyon their due.