Parking
Use the Highway 180 turnout about 2 miles east of Cedar Grove Village. Auto parking is available at the cabin site; the mapped walking start is beside the turnout access.
Overview
About Knapp’s Cabin Trail
Why go
- A quick stop for a distinctive historic cabin and canyon view
Heads up
- The walk is extremely short, with little sustained trail time
Knapp’s Cabin Trail is a very short out-and-back, about 0.1 mile round trip, from the Highway 180 access area to a historic cabin above the canyon floor. The mapped footpath is roughly 80 yards each way; the total shifts a little with where you park. Allow about 10–15 minutes to walk and look around. It’s a quick leg-stretcher, not a workout—the cabin and canyon view are the payoff.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the walk for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Kings Canyon map
Full mapElevation4,800–4,816 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
8 active Kings Canyon alerts
- CautionStage 1 fire restrictionsStage 1 fire restrictions are active because high fire danger raises the risk of accidental human-caused fires that could threaten visitors and employees.Official details
- ClosureGrant Grove trails and areas closed for prescribed fireSome trails and areas around Grant Grove and the General Grant Tree are closed during an active prescribed burn; stay out until crews clear hazards and reopen them.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Kings Canyon Tour Guide
Your drive to Knapp’s Cabin Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Kings Canyon National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Kings Canyon audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Knapp’s Cabin0:00 / 0:28
“Knapp's Cabin is coming up, a small wooden building with a canyon view that makes this a good ten-to-fifteen-minute stop. It's a short walk from the turnout.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Kings Canyon Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Roaring River Falls
- Cedar Grove's Flat Green Sprays
- Cedar Grove Village
- Zumwalt Meadow
- 55 audio storiesacross Kings Canyon’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Mule Deer, Marmot, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 77 trails, 61 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“…The kids and my husband and I all agree that the narration really added to our experience driving through the parks. We learned so much about the history and the flora & fauna.”
Trail guide
Hiking Knapp’s Cabin Trail
Getting thereThe turnout is on Highway 180 about 2 miles east of Cedar Grove Village.
The turnout is on Highway 180 about 2 miles east of Cedar Grove Village. The cabin is a short walk from the parking area, though the exact parking edge is not marked. Cedar Grove road access is usually open from May through early to mid-November, with dates shifting according to weather. Pets aren’t allowed on park trails.
A cabin built for fishing tripsGeorge O.
George O. Knapp had the cabin built in 1925 to store gear for his fishing and camping trips with guests. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The small, plain structure makes more sense once you know it was a practical base for those trips, not a lodge.
Marks left by the glacierThe cabin sits on a glacial moraine, a mound of rocky debris raised above the canyon floor.
The cabin sits on a glacial moraine, a mound of rocky debris raised above the canyon floor. From here, look across at the horizontal scars on the granite walls: rocks frozen into the glacier scraped those lines as the ice moved downhill thousands of years ago. The cabin and its setting make a good paired view—wood and history in front, the larger glacial landscape beyond.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Kings Canyon
227 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
385 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
188 sightingsMarmotMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
118 sightingsPikaMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
14 sightingsGolden TroutMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
32 sightingsRainbow TroutMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Kings Canyon. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
