These hiking poles are sturdy, and great to help keep your balance on short or longer hikes
Big Stump Trail is one of the must-hike trails in Kings Canyon National Park. To be honest, at first, we didn’t know whether we would like this trail with a bunch of tree stumps. However, Big Stump Trail has a lot more to offer than we thought. Besides the towering sequoias and the lush vegetation, the stumps of these giant trees are super interesting to see and are the highlight of this trail. The trail is also short and very easy. It is a perfect hike for beginners and families.
Big Stump Trail trailhead
Main Parking – Big Stump Picnic Area
36.720911, -118.970708
Optional Parking/Trailhead
36.717126, -118.963619
There is a decent size paved parking lot in front of the trailhead.
Kings Canyon National Park charges a fee to enter. The fee varies depending on the vehicle used to enter the park (car, motorcycle, bike, on foot, or horseback). For more information, click here. If you have an America the Beautiful Pass, you can use that instead.
2 mi Loop
192 ft
Easy
Takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour
Big Stump Loop is another busy trail in Kings Canyon National Park. We recommend going on a weekday or getting there either earlier or later in the day on a weekend.
There are restrooms at the Big Stump Picnic Area.
Pets are not allowed on the trail!
There are a couple of ways to start the Big Stump Loop Trail. The main trailhead is located at the Big Stump Picnic Area. The optional and less-known trailhead is located near the Kings Canyon entrance station. This is where the Big Stump Loop Trail crosses over Highway 180. Either way, if you choose to go, it won’t make much of a difference. However, if your only objective is to see the Mark Twain Stump, the main highlight of this trail, the trailhead near the park entrance is the closest. We have the coordinates for both trailheads above.
Before we start, there are multiple optional routes to hike on the Big Stump Loop Trail. You can customize it based on your needs. In this blog, we’ll show you the longest route, the complete loop, starting from the main trailhead at the Big Stump Picnic Area. After leaving the big parking lot of the Big Stump Picnic Area, we headed toward the big informational panels and the small sign for the Big Stump Trail near the restrooms. The trail makes a short descent into the forest.
About 0.3 miles in, we came across our first unnamed stump on the right-hand side. There is a small trail leading toward it. We took this short detour to check out our first stump of the trail. The stump didn’t look that impressive until you got closer to it. It is taller than Dustin and quite wide. After checking out the tree stump, we return to the main trail to keep going.
Shortly after, there is another interesting tree stump. This one has a cool door that you can pass through. Once you go past this tree stump, you should come up to a small trail sign that says “Big Stump Park →” This trail marks an intersection. The right Shattered Giant Trail is a shorter route that bypasses the meadow. We decided to go left and stay on the main trail because we wanted to see the meadow and more tree stumps. It only adds 0.1 miles to the overall hike anyway.
This section of the Big Stump Loop Trail is beautiful! The trail cuts through a lush fern area before curving around. This part reminds us of the Tall Tree Trail in Redwood National Park. At the curve, there is a really interesting hollowed-out tree stump. It is higher than the one we’ve seen so far. There is a small entrance with a very narrow passage where you can squeeze through to get to the middle of the tree. This passage is very narrow. I barely fit without my backpack. Dustin had to stay outside. It was interesting because it felt like a creepy entrance to the Upsidedown.
Shortly after leaving the hollow tree, we reached two conjoined sequoias. These two sequoia trees were planted by a lumberjack who lived in a cabin here in 1888. If you think these 2 trees are cool, check out the Congress Trail in Sequoia. That trail is full of beautiful tree clusters!
Once we left the conjoined sequoias, we came across a few more big tree stumps along the way. Another one of our favorite tree stumps is located right before a junction on the left side of the Big Stump Loop Trail. At this junction, going left takes you to a short 0.1-mile detour to the feather bed, a trench dug by loggers and then filled with sticks to cushion the fall of a Sequoia when it fell. Going right will keep you on the main trail. By the way, don’t forget to check out the awesome tree stump we just passed by. It reminded us of a little cathedral. It was pretty cool to check out.
From here, we stayed on the main trail as it headed toward the star of the trail, the Mark Twain Stump. This tree stump is worth seeing. It was really unique. There is a small wooden ladder leading up to the top of the tree stump. Once you climb up top, you’ll get a feel for how big this stump is! From here, you can also see the growth rings of the tree. This giant sequoia reached 16 feet in diameter. It was cut down in 1891 so it could be displayed to astonished people in New York and London because many people didn’t believe trees could grow that big. Kind of sad if you think about it.
After leaving the Mark Twain stump, we followed the trail toward Highway 180 where the optional trailhead was. As mentioned above, if you just want to see the Mark Twain stump, this trailhead is the shortest way to get there. Once the Big Stump Loop Trail meets up with Highway 180, there is a trail-crossing area. Even though cars are supposed to stop for hikers, please make sure to look both ways before crossing.
The Big Stump Loop Trail continues on the other side of Highway 180. Here, the trail slowly climbs up. It traces along the highway so you’ll get some of the traffic noise. Besides that, the trail is quite beautiful. It weaves through some of the younger tree groves. It is about 0.7 miles from when you cross over the highway to when you reach the parking lot of Big Stump Picnic Area. Before getting to the parking lot, the trail runs through a cool tunnel. This tunnel crosses under Highway 180 and connects to the Big Stump Picnic Area parking lot.
This trail is pretty awesome! We highly recommend checking it out. For more easy hikes in Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Park, check out some of our favorites such as the General Grant Tree, Congress Trail, Moro Rock, Roaring River, and Zumwalt Meadows.
Happy Adventuring. Don’t forget to check out the related posts below for more inspiration on your upcoming adventures. While at it, follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel! We’ll love you forever!
These are the gear that we personally use and find helpful for this particular adventure. Don’t forget to check out our Recommended Gear section as well.
These hiking poles are sturdy, and great to help keep your balance on short or longer hikes
If you tend to have foot blisters on hikes, get this! We use this all the time.
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
It's always good to bring a GPS tracker with you. We use the Garmin inReach.
This is Vy's favorite hiking bag! It has tons of room for snacks and water!
Our favorite biodegradable, eco-friendly, reef-safe sunscreen!
This is our go-to camera for all of our adventures. It comes with us everywhere!
Compact GoPro pole that extends to 25", perfect to bring on your adventure.
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Hi! We are Dustin & Vy, the proud creators of Live That Adventure. We created this website because we wanted to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest. On here, you’ll find everything from hiking, canyoneering, kayaking, and snorkeling to adventure and travel tips, gear reviews, and bucket list items such as bungee jumping or wing walking. We’ll show you the ropes so you can do them too!
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