Kings Canyon National Park Facts
Kings Canyon National Park Facts
|
| Interesting Kings Canyon National Park Facts: |
|---|
| The first known inhabitants of the area now designated as Kings Canyon National Park were the Monache Indians. |
| Explorers did not visit the region until the 1820s, and it was labeled as the roughest land in the country by the military in the 1850s. |
| A naturalist named John Muir became concerned about the regions preservation in the 1870s. |
| In 1880 the giant sequoia trees around Grant Grove were saved from logging. |
| In 1890 General Grant National park was established to protect the sequoia trees. |
| In 1940 Kings Canyon National Park was established. It encompassed General Grant National Park. |
| By 1965 Kings Canyon National Park had been expanded to its present size. |
| During World War II Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park began to be managed together as Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park - as they adjoin each other and protect much of the same landscape and sequoia trees. |
| In 1976 UNESCO designated the region encompassing both parks as Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve. |
| Kings Canyon National Park features Kings Canyon, a glacial valley with cliffs, meadows, waterfalls, and a river. The canyon deepens outside the park making it North America's deepest. |
| Animals found in Kings Canyon National Park include cougars, black bears, mule deer, gray squirrels, marmots, pikas, and jackrabbits. Bighorn sheep are sometimes found within the park but not very often. |
| Birds found in Kings Canyon National Park include the gray-crowned rosy finch, mountain bluebird, Clark's nutcracker, white-throated swift, hermit thrush, and the pileated woodpecker. |
| Visitors to Kings Canyon National Park can visit a variety of wilderness sites, but most are only accessible by trail or canoe. |
| Canyons in Kings River are deeper than the Grand Canyon reaching 8000 feet in some places. |
| The only places that giant sequoia trees can be found are in Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, and Yosemite National Park. |
| Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park has some of the world's most massive trees. |
| General Grant tree in Grant Grove is the world's third largest tree and is believed to be 3500 years old. It is 267 feet tall and its base has a circumference of 107.6 feet. Every Christmas morning there is a service held at the base of the tree. It was designated the 'Nation's Christmas Tree' in 1926. |
| Visitors to Kings Canyon National Park can enjoy hiking, camping, canoeing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. |
| More than 566,000 people visit the park each year. |
|
Related Links: Facts National Parks Facts Animals Facts California Facts Arizona Facts |