mineral king valley

The drive in to Mineral King is great - for the passengers! For the driver, it's a constant challenge... Narrow, winding road with steep hills, parts not paved, little signage. Nothing too out of he ordinary for the region, and our little Mitsubishi Mirage rental seemed to survive the trip.When you get to the ranger station at the end of the road, you may notice signs warning that the local marmot population likes to chew on cars. Believe it! We were tempted to ignore them, until we saw marmots under the first three parked cars we saw! Apparently the recommended defense is a large tarp wrapped around and under the car.I'm told the marmots quit chewing on cars sometime in July or August.

As others have stated, the road into Mineral King is narrow and winding. Most of it is one lane wide; most of it is paved. It is very slow moving and there isn't anywhere to stop on the way in. Pack a lunch before heading in. Silver City may have something, but we did not stop so I am not sure.Once near the roads end, we started off by visiting the ranger station for an update before starting our hike. On a late Saturday morning in September, it was cold and the water pipes were frozen. The ranger did inform us to use the bear boxes for any food we would be leaving in the car - even as day hikers. There were bear boxes for use at the trail head; also present was a pit toilet with a men and woman side.The Sawtooth trailhead was just a mile or two down from the ranger station; a lot of cars in the parking lot (the majority which were overnight backpackers). The trail was very well cut and started heading up. The steepest part was within the first mile with some steps - the remainder was a more gradual incline. The middle part of the hike was through lightly forested area creating some shade.While our GPS did have some problems in the shade, we did clock it in a bit longer than 4.2 miles one way. We also did not go up to the upper lake for there was a snowfall the night before that had not yet melted making some of the rock icy. We saw slightly less than 30 people on the trail, only 2 other day hikers. Everyone else had been backpacking. Several people were packing up their tents from the lake when we had arrived.We really enjoyed the hike, and kept it moving so it didn't take all day. There are nice views all along the hike, but we really enjoyed the last mile or so near the lake. For a more strenuous dayhike in the Mineral King area, we thought this was a good choice!Also in the area, we went a mile or so in on the Atwell-Hockett Trailhead. You start out headed gradually down. In interests of time, we stopped at the bridge crossing the river - a very nice spot. After looking at the map, it seems perhaps we should have gone a bit further for this is where the Atwell grove really started. We did see a number of sequoia on this trail. The first part of the trail was fire damaged from years past. The part of this trail we had didn't have the grand views, but was more of a forest hike. We did see a buck. Bear boxes were provided at the trailhead. Parking was at the paradise ridge trail lot, and then you walked through the campground to get to the trailhead...no parking in the campground.

If you plan on going here be warned that you WILL spend all day just traveling to and from this place. Make sure you go REALLY early if you plan on hiking. There are active bears there so never hike alone.The road is EXTREMELY bumpy and narrow, and will take you a good 1-2 hours of drive. But believe me, it is SO WORTH IT. If you want to be secluded, this is the place. We hiked for a good 4-5 hours to Eagle Lake but ended up turning around since the hiking was insanely long and it was too late in the day to hike safely. Surprisingly there was someone missing in the area we were hiking and the next day they ended up finding a body. It was on the news. Sad. We enjoyed the views so much that we stopped many times to take pictures and just listen to the beautiful sound of silence and wind/birds. SO SO loved it here. It reminded me of Germany. Big warning about marmots who like to chew on engine wires. Cover your cars bottom! Bring food also since there really are no places to eat here and the food that is by Silver City is extremely expensive. $10 sandwitches? Sheesh.

It is only 30 miles but it WILL take you about 1.5 hours to get to the end. The road is narrow, often less than 2 lanes in spots, blind turns, drop offs, bumpy, etc but once you get to the end it will be worth it! The views are incredible and we hiked along the stream for a bit. Fresh air, no crowds, just a great place to be. There aren't services s be sure you have your own food and drink and plenty of gas.

Long curvy road to get there. Not much as for services. Go here if you have a backpack and food. No real good picnic areas. Mainly a parking lot that serves as a trailhead. If you are willing to take a hike, day hike or overnight you will see alpine country that is hard to see without a long hike. Since you start at over 7,000 feet everything is alpine. Beautiful country, high mountain views, thin air.

If you have managed the road up, then enjoy. Just cover the undercarriage of your vehicle if you spend the night. This is God's Country, and you really don't appreciate it, if you have to read a review of Farewell Gap or Big Arroyo, or even Silver City. Stay home.

Fabulous vistas, great hiking trails, amazing fall colors, the Sierra at its best. The road in is slow and twisty but managable. The campground at Atwell Mill is a gem. The pies at the Cafe at Silver City are the best. But the Mineral King Valley is the star!

figure on driving at least 1 1/2 hours but the rewards a great. Wonderful views, great hiking opportunities and great starting point for a multi day back pack

If you don't like curvy, narrow, no shoulder roads... stay home. Great views. Before the end is a private resort called Silver City. If they are open stop for pie. Great coffee too. We tried a trail at the end of the road but it wasn't well marked.

We really enjoyed the scenic and almost deserted drive to Silver City in Mineral King Valley. A beautiful, cool mountain retreat.

If you have an extra day in Sequoia National Park, then a trip to the Mineral King Valley in the southern part of the park is definitely WORTH IT. It is a beautiful area that really shows off the beauty of the Sierra Nevadas (and I've been to the Alps, Andes and Rockies all in the last year!). If you do go, it would not be worth it to not hike one of the many trails, especially to one the pristine mountain lakes. Me and my friends did the hike to Eagle Lake and it was awesome. So much diversity: streams, forests, meadows, painted mountains, jagged cliffs and a clear blue lake. The road is narrow to the valley, but I thought it was actually fun and only took about an hour and 10 minutes, but don't worry it will be worth the adventure!

This is a beautiful park but the road down can be tiring and long. However, if you go slow around the blind curves it's worth every minute of the drive to get to these hiking trails and trees.

If you have an extra day. It's worth seeing this place, though, the road is narrow and slow. Remember, it the travel/trip not the destination.

Only the first eleven miles were open! We sure would have liked to have seen the remaining twelve miles. If the rest was as beautiful as the eleven it would have to be great! The road was steep and narrow but slow would be the way to go no matter how wide the road! The wild flowers were in full bloom and were probably the best display we've seen anywhere! There was a raging river with a beautiful bridge built in 1923, well worth a stop! There were several lovely waterfalls surrounded by those amazing wildflowers! Breath taking vistas around every corner! We spent about 2 1/2 hours going and coming on the eleven miles! Many stops and many pictures! The only disapointment was the locked gate at the eleven mile mark!

Mineral King Road is only open for the non-snowy parts of the year. The road is bumpy, narrow, windy, and long...if you are willing to sacrifice 1.5 hours of driving, you will be rewarded with spectacular scenery. You will pass some lovely Sequoias (not nearly as large as the giants found in the rest of the park, but fascinating nonetheless. At the end of the road, you are greeted with a vista of Sierra Mountain splendor. Particularly beautiful in the fall, the trails lead past some lovely shades of orange and yellow mixed among the pine trees. We saw some snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, flowing streams, old cabins, and lovely valleys. We hiked the Mosquito Lakes Trail, but there are trails of all lengths and skill levels. I suggest the Farewell Gap Trail to Aspen Flat for an easy 2 mile, 1 hour hike. There are port-a-potties at the trail head.