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SOUTH FORK KAWEAH RIVER TRAILHEAD

TRIP 1

Putnam and Snowslide Canyons

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DISTANCE: 4.2 miles, out-and-back to Putnam Canyon

6.8 miles, out-and-back to Snowslide Canyon

ELEVATION: 3,620′/5,125′, +1,830′/-230′/±4,120′ to Putnam Canyon

3,620′/5,800′, +2,690′/-460′/±6,300′ to Snowslide Canyon

SEASON: All year to Putnam Canyon

March to December to Snowslide Canyon

USE: Light

MAPS: Dennison Peak and Moses Mountain

INTRODUCTION: While most Sierra hikers sit at home and eagerly await the snow-free months of summer, a few resourceful souls enjoy the year-round pleasures of the foothills zone in the southwest corner of Sequoia National Park. The 2-mile hike to Putnam Canyon and 3.25-mile hike to Snowslide Canyon on the Garfield-Hockett Trail provide fine opportunities for early and late season forays into the frontcountry, when the majority of higher trails are buried in snow. This trip passes through foothills woodland to Putnam Canyon and then continues through mixed coniferous forest with a smattering of giant sequoias. Fine views of Homers Nose and Dennison Peak provide visual delights along the way.

DIRECTIONS TO TRAILHEAD: Follow State Highway 198 to Three Rivers and turn east onto South Fork Road, approximately 7 miles southwest of the Ash Mountain Entrance to Sequoia National Park. Follow South Fork Road 9 miles to the end of the pavement, and continue another 3 miles on a narrow, dirt road to free South Fork Campground (vault toilets). Proceed through the campground to a small, oak-shaded hikers’ parking area.

DESCRIPTION: The signed Garfield-Hockett Trail begins from the edge of the campground access road a short way before the parking area. Proceed up the trail on a moderate, winding climb across an oak-studded hillside. Lush trailside vegetation includes a healthy population of poison oak and colorful spring wildflowers. Enter a side canyon, about a mile from the trailhead, and step across the first of many small streams you encounter on the way across the slopes below Dennison Peak. The moisture in these diminutive nooks creates a dramatic change in vegetation, and ferns, thimbleberry, maples, nutmegs, alders, dogwoods, and cedar line the shady stream banks.

Continue climbing steadily through oak woodland to Putnam Canyon. Just below the trail, the sound of rushing water from Big Spring courses down the canyon, but chances are the creek will be dry after snowmelt where the trail crosses the streambed. Steep and narrow, Putnam Canyon is filled with boulders and low shrubs, creating an opening through which you have a fine view across South Fork Canyon of the bulbous granite dome of Homers Nose protruding from the opposite ridge.

Beyond Putnam Canyon, the steady climb continues, as a smattering of ponderosa pines, white firs, and incense cedars start to intermix with the deciduous trees of the oak woodland. Fortunately, the arrival of conifers coincides with the departure of the poison oak, although the lovely flowers and plants seen previously start to disappear as well. A mile from Putnam Canyon, you bid a final farewell to the oak woodland, as the trail bends southeast into a canyon near the western fringe of Garfield Grove. Farther on, a dozen or so giant sequoias dwarf the smaller conifers on the way to the crossing of the usually vigorous creek coursing down Snowslide Canyon.

For dayhikers, Snowslide Canyon is a fine early season goal because the winter snowpack generally covers the path beyond here until late spring.