Buena Vista Peak

Kings Canyon National Park, California

Buena Vista Peak, a 7,204-foot granite dome summit in Kings Canyon National Park, rises above even the towering giant sequoias – the views from its treeless, boulder-strewn mountaintop offering a 360-degree panorama of the Sierra’s high country.

The trail to the top of Buena Vista Peak climbs through a thin swath of a mixed hardwood/evergreen forest and picturesque meadows dotted with wildflowers before following a granite ridge dotted with massive boulders - here the route is marked by cairns.

As the trail climbs from the road, the views begin to open – you can see down to the highway several feet below and above to the high Sierra on the horizon. The summit is visible ahead, rising above a steep, tree-covered slope - the single-track path crosses dirt and exposed granite bedrock as it shoots south toward the summit. The path then curves to the left as it switchbacks up the mountain to the peak. There, sweeping views from the relatively easy accessed summit, are among the best for your effort - highlights include Redwood Canyon directly below, Park Ridge, Spanish Mountain, and Kings Canyon to the north, Big Baldy to the south and countless Sierra Nevada peaks to the east.

When you're finished climbing among the granite boulders and taking in the view, turn around and return the same way you came – find the cairn-marked trail once again and begin the easy, completely downhill one-mile descent back to the trailhead.