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Pinewood Picnic Area in Sequoia National Park

Picnic area · Sequoia National Park

Pinewood Picnic Area

A shaded lunch break between Giant Forest and Lodgepole.

Photo: National Park Service
Type
Picnic area
Nearest trail
0.4 mi
Audio stories
14 nearby
  • Parking
  • Picnic tables
  • Restrooms
DirectionsMap

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Pinewood Picnic Area

Overview

About Pinewood Picnic Area

Why stop

  • Shaded tables, grills, water and flush restrooms make this a useful meal break.

Map

Where it is

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Picnic areaPinewood Picnic Area36.57348, -118.76591
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Plan your stop

Before you go

Best time to go

Pinewood is in the high-elevation Giant Forest area; NPS places picnic areas here at roughly 6,600–7,200 feet. These picnic areas aren't plowed, so snow can make them inaccessible, and fire restrictions can limit grill use. Dogs need a leash shorter than six feet and cannot be left tied or unattended.

Space for groups, with an accessible section

There are regular and longer tables for different group sizes. A designated accessible area has parking, a long table on level pavement and a path to an accessible restroom. The standard barbecue grill has limited ground clearance, which can make it awkward to use from a mobility device. Visitors also mention large boulders that children can climb around.

8 active Sequoia alerts

  • InfoGenerals Highway weekday hazard-tree removal delaysMentions Generals Highway, referenced in this guideExpect weekday delays of up to 30 minutes total on Generals Highway between Highway 180 and Giant Forest, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., while crews remove hazard trees; the highway remains open.Official details
  • CautionStage 1 fire restrictionsStage 1 fire restrictions are in effect due to high fire danger and catastrophic-wildfire risk; the restrictions reduce the possibility of accidental human-caused fires that could threaten visitors…Official details
See all 8 alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Sequoia Tour Guide

Your drive to Pinewood Picnic Area, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Sequoia 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.

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Recorded for this place

Pinewood Picnic Area
0:00 / 0:18
“Pinewood Picnic Area is coming up, a shaded lunch stop between Giant Forest and Lodgepole, with drinking water and tables under the trees. Bring a meal if you'd like a proper break between sightseeing stops.”

Plays as you drive up to Pinewood Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Sequoia Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • Giant Forest Museum and Round Meadow
  • General Sherman Tree and Congress Trail
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  • Auto Log and the Washington and Young Trees
  • 71 audio storiesacross Sequoia’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Mountain Lion, Bobcat, and 13 more
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Guide

More about Pinewood Picnic Area

A handy meal stop between the big sightsPinewood is a developed picnic area on Generals Highway between the Giant Forest Museum and…

Pinewood is a developed picnic area on Generals Highway between the Giant Forest Museum and Lodgepole Visitor Center, about 1.1 miles north of the museum. It makes a useful lunch stop between those destinations, with picnic tables, barbecue grills, potable water, flush restrooms and auto parking. Bring your meal and eat under the trees; the tables and grills make it easy to settle in for a proper break.

picnicshadelunchaccessible

Wildlife

Wildlife in Sequoia

All Sequoia wildlife maps
Black Bear691 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapMountain Lion17 sightingsMountain LionMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapBobcat18 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapCoyote24 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapGolden Eagle15 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSpotted Owl20 sightingsSpotted OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Sequoia. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Pinewood Picnic Area

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

EasyWashington Tree Trail1 mi · 45 min · 0.4 mi awayA short forest walk to a sequoia with a turbulent past.ModerateRimrock Trail1.2 mi · 45 min · 0.6 mi awayA narrow hillside path past Lincoln Tree and fallen sequoias.EasyHuckleberry Trail Loop4 mi · 2.5 hr · 0.6 mi awayA sequoia forest loop linking two meadows and a historic cabin.EasyHazelwood Nature Trail0.5 mi · 36 min · 0.6 mi awayA short loop for sequoias, meadow plants, and a creek footbridge.EasyBig Trees Trail0.7 mi · 1 hr · 0.6 mi awayA gentle circuit beneath sequoias, with the meadow at your feet.EasySunset Rock Trail1.4 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.6 mi awayA granite sunset perch over the forested Kaweah canyonModerateBear Hill Trail1.7 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.7 mi awayA steep first climb leads through giant sequoias to Hanging Rock.EasyBeetle Rock Trail0.2 mi · 15 min · 0.8 mi awayA short approach to westward views and a final granite climb.

More stops nearby

Sight · 0.4 mi awayRound MeadowAn easy paved loop, with meadow views framed by giant sequoias.Sight · 0.5 mi awaySunset RockA short forest walk to open granite above the Kaweah canyon.Visitor center · 0.7 mi awayGiant Forest MuseumA quick sequoia primer with grove trails right outside.Sight · 0.7 mi awaySentinel TreeA sidewalk ruler makes a giant sequoia's height click.Sight · 0.8 mi awayThe HouseNamed for Congress, ringed by towering sequoia trunks.Sight · 0.9 mi awayBeetle RockA short granite lookout with a beetle's 1905 backstory.Sight · 0.9 mi awayPresident TreeOne of the world's largest sequoias, reached on Congress Trail.Sight · 0.9 mi awayThe SenateSeveral giant sequoias gather along the Congress Trail.

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