The Generals Highway's Giant Sequoias, Narrated as You Drive
A self-guided audio tour you play from your phone while driving your own car through Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Download it before you lose signal, and the stories play on their own as you near the Sherman Tree, Moro Rock and Tunnel Log.
This is an audio tour for your own car. GuideAlong, which also sells it under the GyPSy Guide name, has placed more than 215 audio points along its route through Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, and each one plays when your phone's GPS reaches it. You choose the order, the stops and how long you stay.
One purchase covers everyone in the vehicle. The tour has no expiry and includes free updates, so the date on the booking does not hold you to a single day.
There is no guide and no meeting point. You bring the car, the phone and the park entrance pass.
The listing spells out four steps. Redeem the voucher code from the email and text that arrive after booking, using an Apple or Google account. Install the free GuideAlong app, sign in with that same account, then download the tour over Wi-Fi or mobile data. The operator puts the download at about 93 MB.
Download it before you leave Fresno or Visalia. Once it is on the phone, the tour runs without cell service.
Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour in Sequoia and Kings CanyonA GuideAlong app tour for your own vehicle: 215+ GPS-triggered audio points, offline playback, no expiry, one purchase per vehicle.www.viator.comTwo Ways In, Twelve Highlights
The listing gives each entrance its own start. From Visalia, Highway 198 runs through Three Rivers, and the commentary begins as you pass through town toward the Ash Mountain entrance. From Fresno, Highway 180 heads for the Big Stump side, and the commentary begins about 2 miles before the junction of Highways 180 and 245.
The operator's highlight list covers the Four Guardsmen, the General Sherman Tree, the Giant Forest Museum, Hospital Rock, Moro Rock and Tunnel Log on the Sequoia side, then Big Stump, the General Grant Tree, Panoramic Point, Cedar Grove, Roaring River Falls and Zumwalt Meadow in Kings Canyon. It puts the route at 125 miles and suggests at least one full day, ideally two.
The park service calls the General Sherman Tree the largest tree in the world by volume and the General Grant Tree the second largest. From the main Sherman parking area off Wolverton Road, the paved trail runs half a mile down to the tree, and the walk back is uphill.
The Season Decides How Much of It You Can Drive
Four of the six Kings Canyon highlights sit on roads that close for winter. Highway 180 beyond the Hume Lake Road turnoff is the way to Cedar Grove, Roaring River Falls and Zumwalt Meadow. The park service says that stretch typically closes in early to mid-November and reopens in late April or early May. Panoramic Point is at the end of a narrow road that is not plowed, is typically closed through winter and reopens in late May. RVs and trailers are not permitted on it.
The Giant Forest side has its own summer rule. The Crescent Meadow Road and Moro Rock Loop close to general traffic on summer weekends and holidays while the park's free shuttles run, so on those days Moro Rock is a shuttle ride.
Cedar Grove is also a long way in. The park service puts it 33 miles and about an hour from the Big Stump entrance on the Fresno side, and 78 miles and about three hours from the Ash Mountain entrance near Visalia.
Fuel, Vehicle Length and Chains
No gasoline is sold inside the parks, so fill up before you enter. The park service points to stations on national forest land nearby.
Vehicles longer than 22 feet are not advised on the Generals Highway between Potwisha Campground and the Giant Forest Museum. Below Potwisha, the advisory is 24 feet. The park service names Highway 180 from Fresno as the preferred route for longer vehicles because it is straighter, less steep and wider.
From fall through spring, tire chains can be required at any time on some park roads, and vehicles without them may be turned away. The park's recorded road line is (559) 565-3341, press 1 and then 1 again.
What You Pay at the Entrance
Park entry is a separate cost. The listing excludes it, and the park service charges USD 35 per private vehicle, valid for 1 to 7 days and covering everyone in the car. Visitors who are not U.S. residents, aged 16 and over, pay an additional USD 100 each unless they enter with an Annual or America the Beautiful pass. The America the Beautiful Non-Resident Annual Pass costs USD 250, and the park service says it covers the nonresident fee for its holder. The listing notes that this fee is collected at the park, not at booking.
The booking refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours before the date on it. Because the tour never expires, the operator says there is no need to change that date if your plans move.
The listing marks the tour suitable for all physical fitness levels, and every stop is optional. The two that ask more of your legs are the Sherman Tree, where the walk back from the main trail is uphill, and Moro Rock, which the listing describes as a 350-step staircase. Drivers with a disability parking placard can use a small lot on the Generals Highway, where the park service says a wheelchair-accessible trail leads a short distance to the Sherman Tree.
For sound, audio plays through Apple CarPlay and Android Auto while the map stays on your phone, and a Bluetooth connection sends it through the car stereo. The operator says to charge the phone from a USB adapter in the power outlet and to skip the car's built-in USB port, and its support line is toll-free. Start the tour, set the phone down, and let the stories find you as the sequoias close in around the road.