Sequoia National Park’s storied Giant Forest, home to five of the largest Sequoias on Earth, is again accepting daily visitors, six months after the KNP Complex Fire swept through the grove of more than 2,000 trees.
Since December, the grove has been open on a limited basis, Friday through Monday, when conditions permitted. But as of Friday, visitors could enter the grove daily, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks officials announced.
The majestic area was closed to the public starting in mid-September as the KNP Complex Fire burned more than 88,000 acres in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. As it approached the Giant Forest, crews wrapped the trunks of some trees — including the General Sherman, the largest living thing on Earth — with protective aluminum insulation resembling foil.
“Our staff has been working hard to restore seven-day access to the Giant Forest and we thank everyone for their patience and flexibility with the limited access that we’ve been able to provide in the last couple months,” Clay Jordan, superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks said in a Facebook post. “This marks an important milestone on our road to fully restoring park operations.”
The KNP Complex fire spared the General Sherman and most of the giant trees in the Giant Forest. However, California wildfires destroyed as much as 5% of the world’s giant sequoias, all of which grow in about 70 groves on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. Estimates indicate that 1,330 to 2,380 trees at least 4 feet in diameter died or will die within the footprint of the KNP Complex.
The reopening extends from Hospital Rock to just above the intersection with Wolverton Road. The Giant Forest Museum will be open for visitor information and retail services five days a week, Friday through Tuesday, closed Wednesday and Thursday. No potable water or food is available in Giant Forest.
According to park officials, many trails in the Giant Forest, including the Congress Trail, were not affected by the fire. Some trails that were affected are open with posted warnings, while the most severely affected trails remain closed.
In other areas of the park, Moro Rock/Crescent Meadow roads are not open to vehicles in a usual seasonal closure, but are available to pedestrians to Moro Rock and Crescent Meadow. Lodgepole and the portion of the Generals Highway between the two parks remain closed but are expected to open in about a week.
The Grant Grove area of Kings Canyon National Park remains open daily but visitors are advised to check weather and road conditions.
Michael Cabanatuan (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
