Description: On a map, it looks like the stretch of Generals Highway between Hospital Rock and Giant Forest just goes crazy. Even on the low-resolution NPS park map, you can count at least 15 switchbacks, which the road needs as it ascends about ¾ of a mile between these spots that lie only 2 miles apart.

At nearly every other turn, we saw the big granite dome of Moro Rock, our next destination, jutting above the forest. We continued up the highway, the last car in the 1pm caravan heading into the center of the park. Suddenly, we reached the beginning of the sequoia habitat, and passed between the Four Guardsmen trees that serve as the boundary to the Giant Forest. These are only modest-sized examples, but you can’t take in any mature sequoia from a car, so we pulled over briefly to get a better look at our first magnificent tree.

The turn-off to Moro Rock (as well as Crescent Meadow) comes just before you reach the heart of Giant Forest. You’re now under the canopy of the sequoias, and the air was cool and fragrant. The parking lot at Moro was small (perhaps 25 spots), and we had to drive around a few times in order to find a legal spot (a challenge others simply ignored and got away with, since there were no NPS personnel here). If you're not driving through, taking the park shuttle here makes a lot of sense.

Moro Rock looks like a small version of Half Dome, its famous cousin in Yosemite Valley. Unlike Half Dome, however, Moro can easily be ascended without investing a day or challenging your mountaineering abilities. It’s a short walk through the woods to reach the beginning of the climb, which is entirely on a staircase that was blasted out of the granite (with a small part of concrete poured into the granite) in the 1930’s as one of many Civilian Conservation Corps projects. On the way up, you might stop to pity those path builders, who must have hauled every bit of materials up this path.

It’s a steep path and a non-trivial climb, but the view is worth it. At some point, I quit counting the steps, but it was somewhere near 400. There was traffic up and down the narrow set of stairs, and it takes care whenever you pass those headed the opposite direction. There are several places to stop and look out over the surroundings, but the best view is definitely at the top.

There’s a modest flat area atop the dome, with only minimal railings. The view to the north looks out over the Kaweah Valley and the Great Western Divide. It’s a beautiful view, and a nice reward as you recover from oxygen debt. To our right, we looked back over the parts of Sequoia we’d already covered, and off in the general direction of Mineral King, the most recent addition to the park that was Walt Disney’s target for a ski resort. From the top, and from a fairly large observation patio half way down, we laughed as we looked over the crazy quilt path we’d followed in racing up Generals Highway to get here.

The elevation of Moro Rock is 6700 feet, and it’s the highest spot for some distance around. Not surprisingly, you’re warned to get off the trail in thunderstorms. If you need any evidence to help you make sense of that, there’s one former tree just off the trail on the north side whose remains are completely blackened from tip to trunk. Our day carried little risk of a thunderstorm, and after enjoying the view for 20 or 30 minutes, we headed for the car and our first stop among the sequoias.Close