The Sequoia National Park contains many scenic features in addition to
the Big Trees. The forests of sugar pine, yellow pine, fir, cedar, black
oak, and other trees are the noblest of their kind. Upland meadows
painted with flowers; many rushing rivers and creeks, as well as lakes
well stocked with trout; glacier-hewn valleys; monolithic rocks, and
snow-capped mountain peaks all contribute to furnish perfect conditions
for enjoyment of outdoor life and the study of nature. Below are listed
but a few of its scenic and other attractions.
=_Middle Fork and Hospital Rock._=--The motorist first enters the park
via Ash Mountain headquarters, and the road leads up the gorge of the
Middle Fork of the Kaweah River.
Hospital Rock, tourist center and public campground, is 5 miles beyond
Ash Mountain on the road to Giant Forest, at 2,700 feet elevation, and
is an all-year-round center of park activities. The Buckeye store sells
general supplies, photographs, films, curios, etc., and furnishes light
meals and overnight accommodations.
At or near Hospital Rock are historical and scenic attractions of great
interest. There are Indian pictographs, and a mammoth boulder marks the
old headquarters of the Yokut Indians. Moro Rock towers 4,000 feet
above. The Kaweah River gorge is full of pools, cataracts, and
waterfalls. The fishing is excellent. Short-trail trips lead to the
Giants Rock Pile, the Big Pool, Buckeye Flat, Red Rock Gorge, and other
interesting walks. Deer are numerous and very tame in this vicinity.
A narrow 2-mile road above Hospital Rock leads to Moro Creek, where
there is a public campground and point of departure for high mountain
trail trips. Magnificent views of the Great Western Divide, with its
12,000- and 13,000-foot peaks, may be had from this road.
Buckeye Flat is a newly developed area on this road, half a mile above
Hospital Rock. This is a delightful public campground, beside the
rushing Middle Fork, with the usual accommodations. Though particularly
beautiful in the spring, it is attractive throughout the year.
Paradise-Atwell Trail connects Atwell Mill Station on the East Fork with
Hospital Rock on the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River. It joins the
Atwell-Hockett Trail, permitting direct access to the Hockett Meadow
country from the Middle Fork district.
[Illustration: _Grant photo._