Eagle View High Sierra Trail - Sequoia National Park, California - Scenic Overlooks on Waymarking.com

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At the heart of the Giant Forest are the meadows, and among the most beautiful of these are Crescent and Log - indeed, John Muir called Crescent Meadow the “Gem of the Sierra”. This hike not only takes in both meadows, but also two wonderful viewpoints over the canyon rim of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah.

Keeping the meadow to your left, take the paved Crescent Meadow Trail around its south end. Cross a couple of footbridges over branches of Crescent Creek, then climb gently to a junction after two minutes. Keep left on the paved trail, and enjoy lovely views up Crescent Meadow as you stay close to its east side. Cross another footbridge, this time over a creek that runs between the southern ends of Crescent and Log Meadows, and reach a second junction.

Turn right for Tharp’s Log, and head through fir forest towards Log Meadow (ignoring the narrow path to the right after 0.1 mile). The paved trail heads up the west side of Log Meadow to Tharp’s Log, at the 0.8-mile mark. Hale D Tharp, the first white man to visit the Giant Forest, used the meadow to graze his cattle in the 19th century. He built a primitive cabin into the trunk of a downed sequoia and lived here every summer from 1861 to 1890.

Bear right onto unpaved Trail of the Sequoias, around the north end of Log Meadow and across a couple of creeks for 0.3 mile. Keep ahead at the junction to continue for 0.5 mile down the east side of the beautiful meadow, covered with grasses and wildflowers in summer. At the south end turn left, away from the meadow, for the short connection to High Sierra Trail. This 70-mile route heads east across the Park, all the way to the summit of Mt Whitney, the highest point in California.

At the four-way junction on the very edge of Giant Forest, bear left along High Sierra for 0.25 mile to Eagle View. Climbing gently on a rockier path, a sign describes the far-reaching consequences of just one person’s thoughtless act: “A carelessly discarded cigarette along the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River started the Buckeye Fire in October of 1988. The fire quickly spread through the tinder-dry foothill vegetation, burning 3,100 acres from the riverbank to the forest above the High Sierra Trail. It required 1,200 firefighters over a week to extinguish the blaze, and cost $2.5 million.”

With just low shrubs to the side of the path, the views are excellent - and as the trail along the open ledge bears left you arrive at Eagle View. It is well named. The panorama encompasses: the peaks of the Great Western Divide to the left; Castle Rocks directly ahead; the canyon of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River to the right; the San Joaquin Valley far in the distance, as usual shrouded in smog; and to the extreme right, the granite dome of Moro Rock

Type of overlook: trail Overlook designation: Designated Elevation: 6,900.00 View: The panorama encompasses: the peaks of the Great Western Divide to the left; Castle Rocks directly ahead; the canyon of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River to the right; the San Joaquin Valley far in the distance, as usual shrouded in smog; and to the extreme right, the granite dome of Moro Rock. Picnic tables: Not Listed Benches: Not Listed Water/restrooms: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
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Date Logged Log User Rating   11/06/2008 teeoff2 visited it

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