LITMIR.BIZ

      Mineral King as seen from the Sawtooth Pass Trail (Trip 13)

      AMENITIES: The tourist-based community of Three Rivers, 37 miles east of Visalia and immediately west of the park entrance, offers a modicum of services, including motels, restaurants, gas stations, and stores.

      The family-run Silver City Resort is usually open from late May into October, providing comfortable lodging in chalets and cabins, a limited selection of supplies (no ice or alcohol), dining, public showers, and ranger-led campfire talks on Thursday evenings. Many consider their fresh-baked pies to be the resort’s highlight. Call (559) 561-3223 in summer, or (805) 528-2730 off-season for more information, or visit their website at www.silvercityresort.com.

      RANGER STATION: The rustic Mineral King Ranger Station, usually staffed from late May to late September, is located 22 miles from the junction of Highway 198 in Three Rivers. Backpackers can get wilderness permits during normal business hours (with reduced hours after Labor Day weekend). A limited selection of books and maps are available for purchase, and bear canisters can be rented. Call (559) 565-3768 for more information.

      GOOD TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: Backpackers leaving vehicles overnight at trailheads in Mineral King should place all food and scented items in the storage shed directly opposite the ranger station because bear boxes are not available at the Tar Gap, Eagle-Mosquito, or Sawtooth-Monarch Trailheads.

      Some of the plentiful marmots in Mineral King have developed a peculiar hankering for munching on car parts, such as radiator hoses, fan belts, and brake lines. Fortunately, this proclivity seems to be limited to early in the season (May and June), and by July these rodents turn to more nutritious fare. Check with rangers about current conditions. If your trip coincides with car-munching season, you may want to encircle your vehicle with chicken wire.

      If you plan to camp at either Atwell Mill or Cold Springs Campgrounds, check the board at the Mineral King and Highway 198 junction in Three Rivers or at the Lookout Point Entrance Station for availability. Doing so could save you from a fruitless, time-consuming drive if the campgrounds are full.

      ATWELL MILL TRAILHEAD

      TRIP 4

      East Fork Grove

       DH

      DISTANCE: 5 miles, out-and-back

      ELEVATION: 6,600′/6,240′, +525′/-820′/±2,690′

      SEASON: Late May to November

      USE: Light

      MAP: Silver City

      INTRODUCTION: Most hikers and backpackers who endure the rigors of the drive on Mineral King Road are bound for the high country above the valley, overlooking some of the lesser-known treasures along the way. Some of these neglected riches are found along the Atwell-Hockett Trail, which leads to a picturesque river canyon and a nearly forgotten grove of giant sequoias. On this 5-mile hike, visitors will enjoy the turbulent East Fork Kaweah River, which cascades through a narrow cleft of granite and a fine selection of Big Trees sans crowds.

      DIRECTIONS TO TRAILHEAD: From the east end of Three Rivers, leave Highway 198 and turn onto Mineral King Road. Follow the road for 8 miles to the Atwell Mill Campground entrance and then continue another 0.2 mile to the signed trailhead parking area, which has a bear box, at the east end of the campground.

      DESCRIPTION: Walk down a road toward the campground, which has water and vault toilets, for about 250 yards to the beginning of the signed Atwell-Hockett Trail. Follow a path past redwood stumps to a small meadow filled with relics from the long-abandoned Atwell Mill.

      Through a mixed forest of black oaks, white firs, sugar pines, ponderosa pines, incense cedars, and sequoias, you veer away from the old mill site and descend around a hillside, soon dropping to diminutive Deadwood Creek. The descent continues through forest another half mile to a stout steel-and-wood bridge spanning the granite cleft of East Fork Kaweah River, 1.25 miles from the parking area. The bridge offers a picture-postcard view of the cascading river plummeting over slabs and boulders down a narrow, sequoia-lined gorge.

      ATWELL MILL

      In the 1870s, the Atwell Mill provided the town of Buelah (now Mineral King) with lumber for buildings and mines, also supplying a million board feet for a flume between Oak Grove and a hydroelectric plant in Hammond. The high cost of transporting lumber to the San Joaquin Valley eventually doomed the mill, but not before many stately giant sequoias near the mill succumbed to the logger’s axe. Ironically, the brittle sequoia wood proved to be useful only for shakes and fence posts.

      Cascade on East Fork Kaweah River

      Beyond the bridge, proceed through the East Fork Grove on a mild to moderate climb away from the river to Deer Creek, a good turnaround point for dayhikers. From the creek, the Atwell-Hockett Trail continues to the unceremonious southern end of the East Fork Grove.

      ATWELL MILL TRAILHEAD

      TRIP 5

      Atwell-Hockett Trail to Hockett Plateau

       BP

      DISTANCE: 20 miles, out-and-back

      ELEVATION: 6,600′/8,510′, +3,690′/-1,785′/±10,950′

      SEASON: June to late October

      USE:

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