Sugar Pine Trail

Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · Views · Wildlife

There are no services at Moro Rock or Crescent Meadow, so make sure to bring water, snacks, sunscreen, and bug spray with you. While most of the trail is shaded thanks to the forest surrounding you, its a good idea to have some sort of head covering as the sun is powerful in the High Sierras.

The Sugar Pine Trail departs from Moro Rock and makes its way toward Crescent Meadow through the Giant Forest. The singletrack dirt trail drops down from the parking lot near the information kiosk on the left hand side of the lot. The trail rolls through the woods close to the road for the first third of a mile.

Keep an eye out for sequoia cones that are on the forest floor and for animals that might be feeding, especially in the morning or evening. Deer and black bears call the Giant Forest home, so keep an eye out for these larger mammals. Chipmunks and squirrels can be seen and hear scurrying around as well. Around half a mile, the trail starts to climb gently uphill as it follows the contour of the hills.

Around 0.9 miles the trail comes to the junction with the Bobcat Point Trail, which goes to the right and leads to a great view of Moro Rock and the surrounding landscape. The Sugar Pine Trail continues on the left fork and begins to climb a little more steeply. The trail passes a spur that leads to Indian mortars where you can see where Native Americans ground food into meal. It follows close to Crescent Creek before emerging at the Crescent Meadow parking lot.

From here, there are a variety of trails that you can take to further explore the Giant Forest. If you want to get back to your car at Moro Rock, you can either back track on the Sugar Pine Trail or take the Bobcat Point Trail to create a lollipop loop hike.

Like most of the trails in this area, you are hiking through a forest of Giant Sequoia trees. Wildflowers can be seen on the side of the trail in the spring/summer time.

Birds can be heard and seen throughout the hike, and the usual cast of characters can be seen in the woods: deer, black bears, squirrels, chipmunks.