Circle Meadow Loop, Sequoia National Park
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Circle Meadow Loop
Circuit of a long, narrow, crescent-shaped meadow lined with many sequoia of varying sizes, in a quiet and very scenic part of the Giant Forest. Accessed from several other paths, most popular being the Congress Trail, at the north end
Length: 2.1 miles for the actual loop; 4.1 miles (round trip) including the Congress Trail
Elevation change: 140 feet
Difficulty: Easy
Type: Loop, with various intersections allowing for longer hikes
Usage: Low to medium
Season: Spring, summer, fall
Trailhead: Spur off Wolverton Road
Rating (1-5): ★★★★★
Elevation change: 140 feet
Difficulty: Easy
Type: Loop, with various intersections allowing for longer hikes
Usage: Low to medium
Season: Spring, summer, fall
Trailhead: Spur off Wolverton Road
Rating (1-5): ★★★★★
Circle Meadow is one of several curving patches of marshy grassland amidst the majestic trees of the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park. The meadow is not a complete circle, maybe a half - 0.7 miles long, and narrow, only about 100 feet wide, occupying a shallow valley between two ridges, and drained by a stream, the very upper end of Little Deer Creek.
This location is over a mile from any roads, so the 1.8 mile Circle Meadow Trail that loops around the grassland is quiet and peaceful, seeing far fewer people than some other places in the forest, such as the often very busy Congress Trail just to the north. The shortest hike to the meadow includes this trail as an access route, to make a round-trip of just over 4 miles; the meadow can also be reached from the south, linking from the route around Crescent Meadow, or from several places to the west.
The forest hereabouts includes a typical mix of huge, aged sequoia and more numerous younger trees, mixed with shrubs, ferns and wildflowers, but generally with only limited undergrowth. There are several named trees en route and one historic structure, Cattle Cabin, built by Hale D Tharp and colleagues in 1890, at a time when the meadow was used as a place to graze cattle.
Giant Forest area map.
39 views of the Congress and Circle Meadow trails.
The Congress Trail starts from a large parking lot off Wolverton Road, and heads south, past the General Sherman tree (largest in the forest), where it divides, the two parts forming a loop. The west branch reaches a junction with the Circle Meadow Loop beside the McKinley tree, while the east branch intersects the meadow loop at the Senate Group; both junctions are about one mile from the Congress trailhead. The meadow hike could in theory be shortened by parking in a pullout along the Generals Highway, 800 feet south of the old parking place for General Sherman (now only for vehicles with a disability placard) and walking east up a steep slope, very soon reaching the west portion of the Congress Trail, from where the Crescent Meadow intersection is 0.3 miles away.
The area round the two Congress-Crescent Meadow trail intersections is one of the most spectacular in the Giant Forest, with huge trees in all directions including the McKinley, Lincoln, President and Chief Sequoyah trees, the Senate and House groups, and as a consequence there are often many people here, yet very few walk further south, towards the meadow. The western part of the meadow loop, which is unsigned but begins next to a trail map, leaves the paved Congress Trail at the McKinley Tree and heads into the tranquil forest, soon passing Room Tree, a large sequoia with a burnt cavity at its base and a 'window' above. The path next winds past a closely spaced-group of a sequoia, the roots of a fallen giant, and a massive, jagged, burnt stump then reaches the Cattle Cabin, which was in use until 1917 when the last parcel of private land in the Giant Forest was acquired by the government.
After the cabin the path descends gently and reaches the northeast edge of Circle Meadow, continuing southwards and passing between the Pillars of Hercules, a pair of ancient dead sequoia trucks, burnt by wildfire, then just after it goes through the Black Arch, a sequoia that is split at the base, the insides also fire-blackened. The far side of the meadow is partially lined by granite slickrock, and is also followed by a path, the Bears Bathtub Trail, and later the Washington Trail, which meets the meadow trail after the latter crosses to the south side. From this intersection, the meadow path continues to the upper end of the grassland, a basin enclosed on three sides by steep slopes, where the path is briefly more undulating, with a few short climbs and descents. The trail crosses a little stream feeding the meadow and rises gently again, through more sequoia that become gradually larger as the path heads further north, eventually rejoining the Congress loop at the Senate Group.
This location is over a mile from any roads, so the 1.8 mile Circle Meadow Trail that loops around the grassland is quiet and peaceful, seeing far fewer people than some other places in the forest, such as the often very busy Congress Trail just to the north. The shortest hike to the meadow includes this trail as an access route, to make a round-trip of just over 4 miles; the meadow can also be reached from the south, linking from the route around Crescent Meadow, or from several places to the west.
The forest hereabouts includes a typical mix of huge, aged sequoia and more numerous younger trees, mixed with shrubs, ferns and wildflowers, but generally with only limited undergrowth. There are several named trees en route and one historic structure, Cattle Cabin, built by Hale D Tharp and colleagues in 1890, at a time when the meadow was used as a place to graze cattle.
Location
Giant Forest area map.
Photographs
39 views of the Congress and Circle Meadow trails.
Circle Meadow Video
Congress Trail
The Congress Trail starts from a large parking lot off Wolverton Road, and heads south, past the General Sherman tree (largest in the forest), where it divides, the two parts forming a loop. The west branch reaches a junction with the Circle Meadow Loop beside the McKinley tree, while the east branch intersects the meadow loop at the Senate Group; both junctions are about one mile from the Congress trailhead. The meadow hike could in theory be shortened by parking in a pullout along the Generals Highway, 800 feet south of the old parking place for General Sherman (now only for vehicles with a disability placard) and walking east up a steep slope, very soon reaching the west portion of the Congress Trail, from where the Crescent Meadow intersection is 0.3 miles away.
Path to the Meadow
The area round the two Congress-Crescent Meadow trail intersections is one of the most spectacular in the Giant Forest, with huge trees in all directions including the McKinley, Lincoln, President and Chief Sequoyah trees, the Senate and House groups, and as a consequence there are often many people here, yet very few walk further south, towards the meadow. The western part of the meadow loop, which is unsigned but begins next to a trail map, leaves the paved Congress Trail at the McKinley Tree and heads into the tranquil forest, soon passing Room Tree, a large sequoia with a burnt cavity at its base and a 'window' above. The path next winds past a closely spaced-group of a sequoia, the roots of a fallen giant, and a massive, jagged, burnt stump then reaches the Cattle Cabin, which was in use until 1917 when the last parcel of private land in the Giant Forest was acquired by the government.
Circle Meadow
After the cabin the path descends gently and reaches the northeast edge of Circle Meadow, continuing southwards and passing between the Pillars of Hercules, a pair of ancient dead sequoia trucks, burnt by wildfire, then just after it goes through the Black Arch, a sequoia that is split at the base, the insides also fire-blackened. The far side of the meadow is partially lined by granite slickrock, and is also followed by a path, the Bears Bathtub Trail, and later the Washington Trail, which meets the meadow trail after the latter crosses to the south side. From this intersection, the meadow path continues to the upper end of the grassland, a basin enclosed on three sides by steep slopes, where the path is briefly more undulating, with a few short climbs and descents. The trail crosses a little stream feeding the meadow and rises gently again, through more sequoia that become gradually larger as the path heads further north, eventually rejoining the Congress loop at the Senate Group.
Topographic Map of the Circle Meadow Loop
Circle Meadow - Similar Hikes
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