Name: Congress Trail
Rating: 4.5

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Family Friendly Fantastic paved path with a visual experience of the giant sequoias that won't soon be forgotten by the young-ones.

Overview

This short loop will take longer than you might expect... You'll be looking upward constntly. Beware of sore necks!

Description

This is one of the easiest ways to see a bunch of the giant sequoias in a short amount of time.

The trail starts from the General Sherman Tree area and makes a winding loop around the grove. It doesn't make too much of difference which way you take it. There are lots of trails intersecting the Congress Trail, but everything is very well signed, so this doesn't present too much of a challenge.

Flora & Fauna

Five of the ten largest trees (by trunk volume) are located in the grove.

Contacts

Land Manager: NPS - Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park

Shared By:

Brad H

Full Details

Trail Ratings

4.5 from 37 votes

#2

in The Giant Forest

#352

Overall

4.5 from 37 votes

5 Star		57%
4 Star		35%
3 Star		8%
2 Star		0%
1 Star		0%

Recommended Route Rankings

7 Views Last Month

3,923 Since May 29, 2015

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Jul 6, 2015 near Three R…, CA

Jan 20, 2016 near Three R…, CA

Nov 22, 2015 near Three R…, CA

Jul 6, 2015 near Three R…, CA

Jul 6, 2015 near Three R…, CA

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Current Trail Conditions

All Clear 8 days ago

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Check-Ins

Aug 3, 2025

Anonymous

May 23, 2025

Tom Herr

Fun loop going near General Sherman and the museum. The House, Senate and President are the highlights of this hike. Epic! 1.9mi

Aug 15, 2024

Buddy Dunlap

Nov 19, 2023

Sophia Luo

Oct 19, 2023

Eric Philipp

This was by far my favorite hike in the park. 3mi — 1h 29m

Sep 20, 2023

John O'brien

7mi — 9h 30m

Sep 3, 2023

Cevat Akin

Jul 16, 2023

Nathan Roller

Jun 30, 2023

Dominique GoesHiking

Jun 26, 2023

Tim Rowland

Jun 11, 2023

Katie Wolfgang

Oct 14, 2022

Brett Wolfley

Sep 23, 2022

Ryan F

1.9mi — 1h 30m

Aug 22, 2022

Michael Jacobs

Jul 30, 2022

Manoj Abey

2mi — 1h 30m

Jun 12, 2022

Zachary Troyer

May 2, 2022

Colleen Gebauer

Close to founders group and room tree off to the east on part of circle meadow loop

May 2, 2022

Brooke Walczak

Close to founders group and room tree on carvel meadow loop to the west

Apr 30, 2022

Johan Wu

17:00

Mar 6, 2022

Jeremy Allen

Hiked on 8/20/2017

Jan 22, 2022

Jiye Kim

Aug 14, 2021

Nathan Dinges

Aug 1, 2021

Sergei Maslov

Nice hike, not very crowded. I recommend continuing to the Crescent Meadow and then boarding a shuttle back. All shuttles were packed around 5pm on Su

Jul 23, 2021

Stephanie Krouse

Jun 24, 2021

Reagan Cicha

Jun 12, 2021

Mike Maxwell

2mi

May 10, 2021

Erin Jerig

Apr 23, 2021

Nathan Hui

With Lauren, Avery, and Remi 1.9mi

Apr 8, 2021

Kristy Van

Nov 25, 2020

Crystal Kirch

Nov 6, 2020

Angie C

Sep 5, 2020

Heather Lynn

Aug 22, 2020

Catherine Harper

Jul 23, 2020

Noel Jimenez

Jul 14, 2020

Travis Palmer

beginning trail — 12h 23m

Jul 8, 2020

Isaac L

Jun 29, 2020

Mai Nguyễn

Mar 3, 2020

Lee Sybert

1.9mi — 14h 28m

Feb 15, 2020

Wet Jewell

Jan 26, 2020

Pat OBrien

Nov 17, 2019

Laurie S

Sep 18, 2019

Joel Shu

Sep 7, 2019

Cassandra Soh

Sep 7, 2019

Josephine Yeo

Aug 30, 2019

Hyun Ji Choi

1.9mi — 12h 30m

Aug 25, 2019

Barbara H

Aug 24, 2019

Emily Tschaepe

Aug 16, 2019

A H

Jul 31, 2019

SUMANTH R

what a majestic group of trees! Be sure to check out The President, General Lee, The house group. 3.2mi — 1h 32m

Jul 20, 2019

Brittany Furnish

Jun 27, 2019

Svetlana Krasnoshapka

Jun 25, 2019

Bailey Ramler

Jun 20, 2019

Kayleigh S

Jun 12, 2019

John DuVall

Jun 8, 2019

Greg Johnson

Jun 2, 2019

Raymond Patterson

Trees — 2h 00m

May 14, 2019

Katie Kleppinger

Mar 17, 2019

C D

Dec 26, 2018

Brandon Bosley

Nov 10, 2018

Cristina Casas Aviles

2mi

Oct 9, 2018

Private User

Oct 7, 2018

David Taylor

Oct 5, 2018

N C

Oct 1, 2018

Kevin Bailey

Sep 4, 2018

D Rosenfeld

2mi

Aug 29, 2018

Cheryl Chow

Aug 20, 2018

Milui Frobnitz

Aug 2, 2018

Family de Rooij

Aug 1, 2018

Marielle de Rooij

family walk

Jul 23, 2018

Carrie Kennedy

Jul 17, 2018

Sherwin Remo

Jul 12, 2018

Mark Botterill

Jul 9, 2018

Matt Krzywicki

Jul 2, 2018

Brandon Chase

Jun 24, 2018

Matt Oleson

Jun 20, 2018

Lauren Goetz

Jun 19, 2018

Marisa Romanat

Jun 4, 2018

R Ullman

Jun 1, 2018

Slawek Czajkowski

May 26, 2018

Keith Storsin

May 5, 2018

Haroon Muhammad

Apr 4, 2018

Lianne L

Jan 14, 2018

Abraham Osuna

Jan 1, 2018

Chris McCloud

Did with Jiaxin & Sasi as part of stop at Sequoia during Nevada/California trip December 2017-January 2018

Jan 1, 2018

Chris McCloud

Done as part of stop at Sequoia during California swing with Jiaxin & Sasi December 2017-January 2018

Dec 25, 2017

Missy Longshore

Paved; keep going to see the President, the Senate, and Congress, plus Chief Sequayah. Hug the President! Walk thru trees. 1.9mi

Nov 11, 2017

Radia J

Oct 20, 2017

Alberto Castro

1.9mi

Sep 30, 2017

Ryan Klink

Sep 17, 2017

Christina Ruiz

2mi

Sep 10, 2017

Povilas Paškūnas

Aug 31, 2017

John Robinson

Aug 21, 2017

Glenn Halfpap

Aug 12, 2017

Eena Colada

1.9mi

Aug 9, 2017

Katie W

After general sherman. Lots of downed trees, cool views. Paved, easy. Even after long day of other trails.

Aug 5, 2017

Blair Tirpak

Aug 4, 2017

Taylor H

With David

Jul 26, 2017

Sean Sparks

2 miles

Jul 15, 2017

Jeremy Smith

Jun 26, 2017

Aaron Vizzini

1.9mi

Jun 24, 2017

Aaron Vizzini

1.9mi

Jun 12, 2017

Lisa P

Jun 10, 2017

Danielle Mangine

Beautiful, easy path to meander through the beautiful sequoias. The trees are stunning and unlike anything I've ever seen! 2mi

May 26, 2017

Tim Frank

1.9mi

May 24, 2017

Dev Chandra

Jan 1, 2017

Zachary Bowen

1.9mi

Dec 21, 2016

Rocio Rodarte

Nov 13, 2016

Bruce Bidwell

Kathy and I 2mi

Oct 31, 2016

Christophe De Melio

Great walk, easy but impressive

Oct 29, 2016

Paul Clinton

Oct 24, 2016

Traci Kendrick

Congress trail and trail of the sequoias loop 10mi

Sep 28, 2016

Sico Sico

Sep 3, 2016

Lenka Richterová

Sep 3, 2016

Vidhi Pathak

Amazing trail, shouldn't miss any portion of it, as the groves of sequoias are breathtaking 2.1mi

Aug 27, 2016

Randy Bertoli

Aug 26, 2016

Amber Winsor

Aug 19, 2016

Shira OC

Aug 12, 2016

Ryan Hogan

Jul 20, 2016

October Greenfield

Jun 3, 2016

Christine Yin

May 26, 2016

Carolina Alejandre

May 18, 2016

Brooke Babcock

Feb 14, 2016

Tristan Shakespeare

Feb 14, 2016

Hubbard Gravlee

Fantastic tour of some big trees. Easy hike, kinda slick right now due to snow but easily doable 2mi

Jun 14, 2015

J. Cole

Oct 1, 2014

Tessa Vande Velden

Honeymoon - did a meadows hike before this

Aug 8, 2014

Kevin Chen

Sep 16, 2013

Roger Chesser

Jun 13, 2013

Vipul Lakhani

Sep 12, 2012

Nat Wolfe

Sep 4, 2011

David Hitchcock

Hiked through the big trees, amazing views of the trees. 1.9mi

Aug 20, 2009

Christina Jaquilmac

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Congress Trail

“A wonderful, short hike through the Giant Forest. ”

1.9

3.0

Point to Point

7,050' 2,149 m

6,837' 2,084 m

350' 107 m

314' 96 m

7%

21%

Toolbox

Know This Trail?

Dogs No Dogs

Features Views

Family Friendly Fantastic paved path with a visual experience of the giant sequoias that won't soon be forgotten by the young-ones.

Overview

Description

Flora & Fauna

Contacts

Shared By:

Trail Ratings

#2

#352

#2

#53

#352

Photos

0 Comments

Comment Type:

Weather

Current Trail Conditions

Check-Ins

Nearby Recommended Routes

Hamilton Lakes Basin

Moro Rock Trail

Mineral King Loop

Dead Giant Loop via Sunset Trail

Rae Lakes Loop

East Lake from Roads End

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