Trail Of 100 Giants In Sequoia National Forest

Trail of 100 Giants is one of the most popular day hikes within Sequoia National Forest that features some of the biggest trees in the world. This trail is very short, family-friendly, and mostly paved.

Trail of a Hundred Giants is easily accessible and makes for the perfect quick getaway from the nearby cities like Bakersfield and Visalia. We love to visit this trail in the summer especially to escape the valley heat into the mountains where temperatures are much cooler.

In this post, we cover all you need to know for hiking the Trail Of 100 Giants including how to get there, where to park, cost, trail difficulty, and other tips.

After hiking Trail Of 100 Giants, we recommend checking out Dome Rock Trail that’s located within the same area of Sequoia National Forest, just 20 minutes away. Both trails are short and doable within the same day.

About Trail Of 100 Giants

Trail Of 100 Giants is one of the most underrated trails in Central California. It’s similar to a hike that you might find at Sequoia National Park but much cheaper and easier to access.

The walkways at Trail Of 100 Giants are paved, mostly flat, and stroller accessible. The Trail of a Hundred Giants goes in a loop for a total of 1.3 miles but you have the option to do less if you start getting tired.

Along this hike, there are lots of charming benches for resting and taking in the fresh forest air.

Trail Of 100 Giants is dog friendly and we saw quite a few pups on this hike.

This trail is very popular so try to come early or late in the afternoon to avoid the crowds.

Trail of 100 Giants Location

Trail Of 100 Giants is located on the west part of Sequoia National Forest in Central California. Multiple routes go there coming from Kernville in the south, California Hot Springs in the west, and Camp Nelson in the north.

We were traveling from Bakersfield so we drove in from California Hot Springs. The Trail Of 100 Giants Trailhead is located right off Highway M-90/Route 107 that’s a major highway so it’s easily accessible for all vehicles.

It took us about 2 hours to get there from Bakersfield and the mountain roads were winding but very scenic.

Note that in the winter months the roads and highways get closed off for access. We recommend calling the local ranger station or checking comments on the AllTrails hiking website to find out if the roads are open before heading out there.

Trail Of 100 Giants Trailhead Location: Co Rte 107, Porterville, CA 93257

Trail Parking

Parking for Trail Of 100 Giants visitors is available at a designated lot right across from the trailhead.

Currently, it costs $10 to park at this lot and it works on a first-come, first-serve basis. This parking lot also has restrooms and some picnic tables.

This official parking lot is small but we came here on a Friday evening right before sunset and had no issues finding a spot. We drove by the next afternoon, however, and the parking lot was full and the attendant was turning away visitors.

As we drove by we noticed that a lot of people were parking along the highway and walking into the trail. If you do park along the main road, watch out for “no parking” signs that go about a half-mile each way from the trailhead.

Trail Of 100 Giants Highlights

Throughout the Trail of a Hundred Giants, there are a lot of informative signs describing more about these impressive sequoia trees and their history.

Some of the trees on this hike are enormous, but this grove also has extremely tall trees and some that are over 1500 years old.

It’s estimated that there are over 700 sequoias at this grove. Here are some of our favorite highlights from the Trail Of 100 Giant starting at the South entrance.

Proclamation Tree

The first impressive sequoia tree that we saw along the trail was the Proclamation Tree. This tree is over 2000 years old and has a unique shape with large openings in the tree stump.

While once sequoias were abundant all around the world, now they can be only found west of the Sierra Mountains in California.

This tree earned its name as the “Proclamation Tree” after President Bill Clinton approved the Giant Sequoia National Monument at the base of this tree that was created to help protect and preserve the sequoias.

The Goose Pen

The Goose Pen is a set of sequoia trees that over the years grew into each other. These trees are now separated only by a small opening that leads to a hallow cavern inside.

A stump has been placed on the inside that allows you to look out of a window-like opening on the other side.

This set of sequoias is called Goose Pen because once farmers used the inside part of these giant trees to take cover from storms and guard their livestock.

Meadow

Behind the Goose Pen tree lies a meadow with large sequoia trees. Within this meadow, visitors can observe an ancient sequoia tree that is missing its top from lightning.

The Trail Of 100 Giants travels through a part of Long Meadow which contains a total of 125 giant sequoias although only a few can be seen from this hike.

Fallen Sequoia Trees

As we walked along the Trail Of 100 Giants we could see quite a few fallen trees with enormous roots. Some of these trees had fallen right on the path and we had to walk around or climb under to pass through.

The most impressive fallen trees were the Two Fallen Sequoias that fell in 2011 due to their large size, shallow roots, and age. We walked up to the roots and looked so small in comparison.

The Sentinels

The sentinels are a set of three sequoia trees that grew into each other. This used to be one of the main attractions of the Trail Of 100 Giants and visitors could observe these trees from the path but now the Two Fallen Sequoias obstruct some of the views.

Fallen Giant Loop

After The Sentinels, we continued into the Fallen Giant Loop that features giant roots of fallen trees. One of these trees fell over 200 years ago and looks the same as it did in 1800 due to “tannin” preservatives that can be found in the sequoias and slow down their decay.