The Generals Highway is a highway that connects State Route 180 and State Route 198 through

Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and toda ...

Sequoia National Forest Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees which populate 38 distinct groves within the boun ...

Giant Sequoia National Monument The Giant Sequoia National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada in eastern central California. It is administered by the United States Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service as part of th ...

, and

Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and ren ...

in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. As the road goes through national parks and monuments, the highway is primarily maintained by the federal government instead of a California State Highway controlled by

Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...

Route description

2013-09-20 11 58 57 View from Generals Highway in Sequoia National Park north of Amphitheater Point

It is named after two of the largest and most famous

Giant Sequoia ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood, Sierra redwood or Wellingtonia) is a species of coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the la ...

trees, the

General Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), earning recognit ...

and General Grant trees. The highway is notoriously steep, narrow, winding, and difficult to drive, especially its southern section from Hospital Rock to

Giant Forest The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within the United States' Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over above mean sea level in the western Sierra Nevada of California, covers an area of . The Giant Fore ...

within Sequoia National Park. This section also consists of numerous switchbacks, and has a

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

of 10 MPH. Regulations restrict the length of vehicles—they must not exceed , although vehicles longer than are not recommended to use the road between Potwisha Campground and Giant Forest Museum. Furthermore, the highway north of Lodgepole campground generally closes due to snow conditions, and is not plowed between the Friday after January 1 and the third Friday in March. The Generals Highway begins as a continuation of SR 198, where the state highway legally ends at the southern boundary of

, although some commercially produced maps may still show the Generals Highway as part of SR 198. The road travels northeast along the middle fork of the

Kaweah River The Kaweah River is a river draining the southern Sierra Nevada in Tulare County, California in the United States. Fed primarily by high elevation snowmelt along the Great Western Divide, the Kaweah begins as four forks in Sequoia National Pa ...

and enters Sequoia National Park through the Indian Head Entrance. Near the Hospital Rock turnout, the road turns north and goes through several turns before straightening out and continuing northeast, passing near the General Sherman Tree. At Lodgepole Bridge, the road turns west before later turning north. Generals Highway leaves Sequoia National Park through the North Entrance, entering

. The road continues northwest through

before traveling along the northern border of

, briefly entering it before terminating at SR 180.

History

Two of the stone bridges on the highway are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Major intersections

References

External links

* * {{Kings Canyon National Park Roads in Tulare County, California Giant Sequoia National Monument Kings Canyon National Park Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Forest Historic American Engineering Record in California National Register of Historic Places in Tulare County, California Named highways in California

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links