North Grove Loop

North Grove Loop is a 1.8-mile loop from Grant Tree Overflow Parking, with a short approach and return on Sunset Trail. Allow about an hour. It is a quieter walk among giant sequoias, meadows, and creek-side mixed forest than the busy path to General Grant Tree. The trees are more scattered than around the famous tree, so choose North Grove for the forest walk and quieter pace, not for one single landmark. Some descriptions use 1.5 miles; plan on about 1.8 miles from the overflow lot, including the approach to the loop and the Sunset return.

Pass bus and RV parking to the gate, then follow the old, cracked pavement for about a tenth of a mile. At the marked split, turn right onto North Grove Trail. The broad dirt path curls around the hillside and meets Sunset Trail at a lower T-junction. Turn left and uphill there to return to the gate. The right-hand branch continues downhill toward Dead Giant Loop and Sequoia Lake Overlook; take it only if you mean to extend the walk. That branch changes the route and adds a substantial amount of hiking.

The old pavement gives way to a wide dirt tread that descends through mixed forest into a gully. Large boulders break up the hillside, and the lower stretch can be deeply eroded, with uneven furrows underfoot. The route descends into a gully, then climbs back on Sunset Trail. At about an hour, it is short, but it feels like a moderate hike rather than a stroll. Give yourself time on the rough descent and save energy for the return climb.

The appeal builds as the route leaves the drier pine-forest start and reaches clusters of giant sequoias around greener ground and small meadows. Ponderosa and sugar pines, incense cedar, white fir, and dogwood share the mixed forest. Dogwood flowers are a spring detail, especially in late spring. Compared with the better-known Grant Tree walk, the sequoias here are less concentrated and the path is quieter. If you stop for a photo, include a bit of trail below a trunk to give its height some scale.

Parts of the route cross forest affected by the 2015 Rough Fire. You may see dead smaller trees and charred wood beside living sequoias and regrowth. It gives the walk a less manicured feel and shows that a grove can hold both fire damage and resilient giant trees side by side. The 2021 KNP Complex Fire also affected the broader Grant Grove area, though the route-specific account centers on the older burn.

Choose North Grove if you want a longer, quieter forest walk and do not mind rough dirt and an uphill finish. If you have little time and want to see the famous General Grant Tree with less walking, its separate paved loop is the more direct choice. North Grove passes meadows and creeks, but it is not a viewpoint hike; its payoff is the changing forest and the chance to walk among several sequoias. Pets are not allowed on trails in the park.