Famous naturalist John Muir said, “The Big Tree (Sequoia gigantea) is Nature’s forest masterpiece, and . . . the greatest of living things. . . . No description can give any adequate idea of their singular majesty, much less their beauty.”

Muir named Giant Forest, which stands in the heart of Sequoia National Park and which includes five of the ten most massive trees on earth.

Skiing or snowshoeing among the sequoias just after a winter snow storm is a magical experience. I will never forget the day my husband taught me to cross-country ski, and my first winter visit to Giant Forest, during a lovely winter storm with large soft snowflakes falling all around us. With storms approaching this month, you may still be able to have the same kind of awe-inspiring experience before the end of this winter season.

We visited Sequoia in early February. Although we have visited the park in all seasons, hiking, backpacking, and cross-country skiing, we had not been in the park for more than 15 years, and what most struck us was how little snow was on the ground at 6,000 feet elevation in Giant Forest that first weekend in February.

The General Sherman Tree/Jean Bjerke

The most recent storm two weeks before had dropped three feet of snow, and there was still snow on the ground. But with high temperatures hovering around 50 degrees Fahrenheit for several days, a lot of it had melted. At the beginning of March, more than three weeks after our visit, I checked with a ranger at the Giant Forest Museum and learned that there was one more snowstorm in February, but it had been so warm since, with several days at 60 degrees, that there was no snowpack left in Giant Forest.

Nevertheless, as of the beginning of March the total snowfall for the season was already 162 inches at Giant Forest - double last year’s snowfall at that time, and higher than any of the previous four years. The ranger said that a few more snowstorms are expected this month, and it is possible that this could be the first year in five years that the snowpack in Giant Forest reaches its historic average of 240 inches for the season.

A walk on snowy trails among the ancient and majestic sequoias in early February was amazing despite their not being decorated with freshly fallen snow. The bark of the sequoias is a beautiful rich cinnamon color that contrasts with the less saturated hues of the rest of the forest. Their trunks loom massive and immense, up to 40 feet in diameter and 100 feet in circumference, with bark up to 31 inches thick. Some sequoia trees soar to more than 300 feet tall, their size hard to take in. The oldest sequoias are about 3,200 years old.

Sequoia, the nation’s second national park, was established in 1890 to preserve these trees, which grow only on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range. Sequoia and adjacent Kings Canyon National Park, located in the heart of the magnificent Sierra, also encompass some of the highest and most rugged peaks in California, many exceeding 14,000 feet in elevation; deep glacier-carved canyons; beautiful rivers; pristine alpine streams and lakes; and magnificent mountain meadows of wildflowers in summer. Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the lower 48 states, is on the eastern border of Sequoia National Park.

In winter very few people visit the gorgeous backcountry of Sequoia, which draws thousands of hikers, backpackers, and climbers throughout the summer. However a winter visit to Sequoia is well worth it for a different kind of experience. The park is very popular in winter for the opportunity to ski or snowshoe among the sequoias, or for sledding in the designated snow play area. This is especially true for Californians, most of whom live in areas where you need to “go to the snow” to see it at all.

The two most-visited areas of Sequoia in winter are Giant Forest and the Wolverton Meadow Snow Play Area. Giant Forest encompasses many groves of sequoias, including the General Sherman Tree, the largest living thing in the world. There are extensive trails among the sequoias, and the area is a wonderland for exploring on skis or snowshoes in winter, when the nearby Moro Rock/Crescent Meadow Road is also closed to become a ski and snowshoe trail.

When we visited in early February, enough snow had melted that we were able to walk on the hardened snow in regular hiking boots, but much of the winter you should plan on wearing skis or snowshoes, which may be rented at Wuksachi Lodge. There are free ranger-led snowshoe hikes from the Giant Forest Museum when snow conditions are favorable.

The Wolverton Snow Play area just two miles from the General Sherman Tree, is popular for sledding, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and family snow play. At 7,250 feet elevation it had a little more snow than the area around the Giant Forest Museum when we visited.

In Sequoia, both the Giant Forest Museum and Foothills Visitor Center are open in winter, as are Wuksachi Lodge and two campgrounds in the foothills area. When driving to the park in winter, you should carry tire chains.

Regardless of the snow conditions when you make a winter visit to Sequoia National Park, you will marvel at the changing scenery as you drive from the fertile farmland of California’s San Joaquin Valley through the lowlands and foothills to the deep mountain forests where the glorious and majestic sequoias are found. If you have the opportunity to cross-country ski, snowshoe, or just stand in awe among the sequoia trees, it will be an inspiring and unique experience. Sequoia National Park is a wonderful winter destination.

A lack of snow can make the foothills area of Sequoia National Park a good place to pitch your tent in winter/Jean Bjerke