Buck Rock Lookout

The road in is a bit un-​nerving (the last few miles are dirt and rough… highly recommend a higher clearance vehicle) but SOOOOOO worth the trip. The adventure of finding it and then climbing to the top with spectacular views were a highlight of our time in this area. Tips: follow the map, it takes about 30 minutes from General’s Highway. Engage with the employee on duty — they’re willing and FULL of information. Take lots of pictures on the way up!

Buck rock is maybe is a neat extra thing to do while in Kings Canyon/​Sequoia. Get the big trees, and the bigger trees, and the massive trees and the hikes in around and through fricken awesome gigantic trees out of the way.
Then head over to Buck Rock for a couple of hours. You can drive almost right up to it. Its about a 5 minute hike into the bottom. The trek up to the top is not for the afraid of heights folk out there. You DEFINITELY feel the height. The view is spectacular… you can see just about every big tree in a 100 mile radius. For the rock climbers out there, there is a bolted lead climb waiting for you (you could top rope it too). I did not give it a try, but I would throw my amature guess that it was 5 – 11 ish, certainly out of my range.

Buck Rock Lookout is a Really, Really, cool fire lookout. It was built in 1923 and has the first live in fire lookout. It’s called a «4-​A» style cab because it’s 14 ft x 14 ft small live in fire lookout surrounded all around by windows. The stairways was built in 1942.
It’s open to the public from 9:30a-6p. The person in the cab is on duty and you can talk to him/​her.
From the Sequoia National Forest website: «Buck Rock Lookout sits perched atop a granite dome and offers a breathtaking view of the Great Western Divide and other spectacular high mountain peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Access to the top is via a series of stair flights (consisting of 172 steps) suspended from the side of the rock.»
Pit toilet is available off on the Left before the stairs and the person on duty has to do those stairs everytime he/​she needs to go! The stairs are fun, 172 steps, hold on to the handrails on both sides!
It can be closed due to fires, lightening, etc. Worth going if ever in the area.
One of my pics above.
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