Outdoor Activities near Kings River (Kings Canyon)

Kings River is the mightiest of California's famous whitewater rivers. It has its source high in the Southern Sierra Nevada and passes 125 miles (201 km) through a breathtaking landscape of narrow canyons and scenic meadows; including the often underrated Kings Canyon National Park.

See the video below and listen to the river's mighty roar to sense the overwhelming power that shaped beautiful Kings Canyon. This video was taken from Junction View, where the Middle and South Forks of the river converge to form the main Kings River that divides the Sierra and the Sequoia National Forests.



Hiking near Kings River:
Zumwalt Meadow, a well-known hiker's delight in Kings Canyon National Park

Rafting on Kings River:
Pine Flat Reservoir
Put-in: Garnet Dike Campground
Take-out: Kirch Flat Campground
Difficulty: Class III
Length: 9.5 miles
(Find more details on this and other whitewater rafting in California at C-W-R and California Creeks)

Tonto Trail (Grand Canyon)

Open KML file to view the Tonto Trail in Google Earth!

The Tonto Trail is a transcanyon route that crosses the Tonto Platform approximately 3900 ft (1200m) below the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The trail is unique because it does not descend from rim to river but runs parallel to the course of the River Colorado. With a length of 95 miles (150 km), the Tonto Trail is usually done as a multi-day trek, broken down into several sections.

Be aware that the trail is a rough wilderness route. The major part of it unmaintained, not signed and reliable water sources are extremely rare. However, don't be intimidated by these conditions because on the other hand the Tonto Trail offers an unbeatable perspective on the Grand Canyon's geological magic off the beaten track and far away from the notorious "Rim Trail Tourists".

Below is a suggestion how to approach the trail in eight sections. Depending on the hiker's physical condition, some of the sections can of course be merged:

View the Tonto Trail in a larger map
Section 1:
Bass Trailhead to Bass Rapid (7.8 miles/12.6 km)

Section 2:
Bass Rapids to Serpentine Canyon (3.7 miles/6 km)

Section 3:
Serpentine Canyon to Turquoise Canyon (10.5 miles/17 km)

Section 4:
Turquoise Canyon to Slate Canyon (9.3 miles/15 km)

Section 5:
Slate Canyon to Boucher Rapids (4.9 miles/7.9 km)

Section 6:
Boucher Rapids to Hermit Camp (7.5 miles/12 km)

Section 7:
Hermit Camp to Horn Creek (11.9 miles/19.2 km)

Section 8:
Horn Creek to Grand Canyon Village (7.5 miles/12 km)

Custom guide for Arizona and Grand Canyon

Travel publisher Lonely Planet has picked up the readers' suggestions and request and created a new kind of travel guides: Custom Guides. These guides are very customized as they put together sections from other popular Lonely Planet books - hence the name. The guidebooks have no colour pages which results in lower prices.

The first batch ever of these new guidebooks was published in December 2008 and included an Arizona & The Grand Canyon Travel Guide. The chapters used for this book are taken from Lonely Planet's latest Southwest USA guidebook.

Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area

Open KML file to view the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area in Google Earth!

View the Paria Canyon in a larger map

West of Lake Powell and the city of Page on the state border of Arizona and Utah lies the Vermilion Cliffs Winderness Area. It encompasses the Paria Canyon - Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area. This rugged area is a geologic wonderland with breathtaking sandstone formations, deep slot canyons and high cliffs, towering up to 120m (400 ft) from the ground to the plateau.

The unquestioned highlights of Vermilion Cliffs are Buckskin Gulch (a side canyon of Paria Canyon and the world's longest slot canyon), Coyote Buttes and The Wave. The latter is America's best hiking secret, a famous, red-coloured geological formation resembling a gigantic wave (hence the name) with very thin white stripes.

The whole wilderness area is a (backcountry) hiker's paradise and offers three of the most pristine and remote trails in the United States:

• White House Trail, or Paria Canyon Trail, the central trail through the Paria Canyon
• Buckskin Gulch Trail
• Wire Pass Trail, the trailhead to the Wave

Hiking in Coyote Buttes requires a permit, the fee is $5.00 per person per day. It can only be obtained online on the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) website. This website is also your best choice for all the nitty-gritty about the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, from history to geology to driving directions.

Due to its narrow and deep corridors, canyoneering is also extremely popular in the Paria Canyon and Buckskin Gulch. Visit Canyoneering.com for general information or go to Climb Utah to read all the details about canyoning in the Buckskin Gulch.

New National Park Guides from Lonely Planet

The publisher company Lonely Planet has relaunched their guidebooks about US National Parks with a fresh new layout. The following four guides are ready to order from mid-April 2008:

• Banff, Jasper & Glacier National Parks Guide
• Grand Canyon National Park Guide
• Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks Guide
• Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks Guide

Not relaunched yet are the other two existing guides about Great Smoky Mountains & Shenandoah and Zion & Bryce Canyon.

National Parks in the USA

A list with all 58 US National Parks (as of 2007):

1. Acadia
2. American Samoa
3. Arches
4. Badlands
5. Big Bend
6. Biscayne
7. Black Rock of the Gunnison
8. Bryce Canyon
9. Canyonlands
10. Capitol Reef
11. Carlsbad Caverns
12. Channel Island
13. Congaree
14. Crater Lake
15. Cuyahoga Valley
16. Death Valley
17. Denali
18. Dry Tortugas
19. Evergaldes
20. Gates of the Arctic
21. Glacier
22. Glacier Bay
23. Grand Canyon
24. Grand Teton
25. Great Basin
26. Great Sand Dunes
27. Great Smoky Mountains
28. Guadelupe Mountains
29. Haleakala
30. Hawai'i Volcanoes
31. Hot Springs
32. Isle Royale
33. Joshua Tree
34. Katmai
35. Kenai Fjords
36. Kings Canyon
37. Kobuk Valley
38. Lake Clark
39. Lassen Volcanic
40. Mammoth Cave
41. Mesa Verde
42. Mount Rainier
43. North Cascades
44. Olympic
45. Petrified Forest
46. Redwood
47. Rocky Mountains
48. Saguaro
49. Sequoia
50. Shenandoah
51. Theodore Roosevelt
52. Virgen Islands
53. Voyageurs
54. Wind Cave
55. Wrangell-St. Elias
56. Yellowstone
57. Yosemite
58. Zion