Lemoore is located in central California and is perfect for a wide variety of family trips, including the two-hour drive to historic Sequoia National Park, home to the giant sequoias, sequoias that are the largest living things on earth.
From Lemoore, head east on Highway 198 through Visalia and into the foothills community of Three Rivers. Three Rivers offers a great place to stop for sandwiches on the river or even homemade sweets and ice cream. Just a few miles from Three Rivers, you’ll pass the entrance to Sequoia National Park, but keep in mind that you’re still an hour from the heart of the park, after a slow, winding drive.
About forty-five minutes from the park entrance, you’ll pass Moro Rock, a giant rock with stairs and a railing, perfect for your afternoon exercise. You can scale the rock and take in incredible views of the interior of Sequoia National Monument and the San Joaquin Valley below. About a third of the way up the rock, you’ll also have a great view, if you’re short on time or energy.
Just minutes from Moro Rock you will find Crescent Meadow, a beautiful meadow of wildflowers and other Sequoia flora and fauna. You can take a leisurely walk through the meadow, just over a mile in all. About halfway up, you’ll find the historic “Tharpe’s Log”, a hollowed-out log used by a guy named Tharpe for accommodation almost a hundred years ago.
A short drive past Moro Rock and Crescent Meadow, visitors will find a variety of opportunities to drive over and under the giant sequoias. The largest of the Giants is located just before the Lodge Pole. Parking is plentiful and visitors can walk to the base of this giant, the General Sherman tree. For a hundred years visitors have been photographed in front of this giant tree. From the scale of the photo, the visitor appears to be the size of an insect.
After taking photos near General Sherman and perhaps a short hike in the nearby redwood forest, visitors can visit the Lodge Pole for dining or shopping. A ranger station at the Lodge Pole can help answer any additional questions a visitor may have.
From the Lodge Pole, a Lemoore family can return via Three Rivers or follow a loop through Grant Grove and into Fresno. The Grant Grove stretch of road doesn’t offer as many redwood delights as the road to Three Rivers, but it’s much less winding and will get you home in just over two hours. Altogether, the trip is a fun-filled day trip from Lemoore.