Large and in charge — because of its immense bulk, the giant sequoia is the world's largest tree.

In the southern Sierra, within reasonable reach of the Los Angeles megalopolis, you can still find raw, roadless wilderness. While nearby Yosemite is plagued by crowds and overdevelopment, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks remain a largely unspoiled alpine realm, with high-country lakes and mountain streams, snowfields, and scores of peaks that top 13,000 feet. In short, there's enough here to satisfy a John Muir wanna-be through several lifetimes of exploring.

Visit the Sequoia Natural History Association, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks' non-profit education partner, for trip-planning assistance, environmental and outdoor education courses, and tours of Crystal Cave.

On a clear day, stand on top of Moro Rock in Sequoia's western precincts and take in the view that extends from the 12,000-foot peaks of the Sierra's Great Western Divide to the foothills. The churning Middle Fork of the Kaweah River races below. To the north lies the Giant Forest plateau, where giant sequoias rise above their puny neighbors. The tallest, 275-foot-tall General Sherman, has a trunk that weighs an estimated 1,385 tons and a ground-level circumference of nearly 103 feet. This is our second-oldest national park, dating back to 1890.

Just out of sight beyond the divide, the highest mountain in the contiguous 48 states, 14,494-foot Mount Whitney, arches into the sky. Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia's sister, was added to the system in 1940. The older General Grant National Park, which is the area now known as Grant Grove, was folded into the new park. As well as magnificent groves of sequoias, the park takes in its eponymous King's Canyon and the gorges of the King River, two of the deepest in the United States. Today, the two parks are generally treated as one.

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