21 Underrated National Parks for Avoiding Summer Crowds

Akanksha Sharma

November 7, 2025

14. Kings Canyon National Park (Cedar Grove Area, CA): Deep Sierra Solitude

Kings Canyon National Park is an American national park 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 renamed to Kings Canyon Nati. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons @RuggyBearLA

While the Grant Grove section bustles with visitors seeing Giant Sequoias, venture deeper into the park's namesake canyon along the Kings River to Cedar Grove. This spectacular glacier-carved valley, often compared to Yosemite but far less developed and crowded, offers profound granite cliffs, riverside trails, swimming holes, and stunning waterfalls like Roaring River Falls and Mist Falls. Summer provides access to this lower-elevation canyon area where you can hike, camp, and enjoy High Sierra grandeur without the intense crowds found just miles away.

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21 Underrated National Parks for Avoiding Summer Crowds

14. Kings Canyon National Park (Cedar Grove Area, CA): Deep Sierra Solitude

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