SEKI Wilderness Permit — Cedar Grove — Bubbs Creek

Cedar Grove, Bubbs Creek: what makes it different

Bubbs Creek is the Cedar Grove entry point for the Rae Lakes Loop in its counterclockwise direction. You climb the steep Bubbs Creek canyon from Roads End first, and the permit does not allow the clockwise start.^1,2

Getting to the start

You start at Roads End in Cedar Grove, where the Roads End permit station issues the permit and the lot is the trailhead parking. Cedar Grove sits near 4,600 feet. The Park Service lists the Rae Lakes Loop trailhead itself at 5,035 feet.^1,5,2

The Roads End station opens about 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the quota season. A 2024 hiker says the lot fills quickly but overflow parking usually opens up, advises emptying the car of anything scented into the lot's bear boxes, and reports the station can lend a canister.^3,7

Cedar Grove has a lodge, grill, market, showers and drinking water, but Roads End itself sells no food. One 2024 hiker spent the night before at Sentinel Campground near the lodge.^5,7

The first leg

The Park Service mile table puts the Paradise and Bubbs junction 1.9 miles from Roads End and Sphinx Junction, the last campsite on the early climb, at 4.1 miles. Recreation.gov agrees: the first allowed camp is 4 miles out at the Sphinx Creek crossing.^2,1

A five-person counterclockwise party in the account below used that first camp: a short climb out of the valley to flat tent sites and a fire ring at Sphinx Creek.⁶

Terrain and difficulty

Recreation.gov describes the trail as steep and strenuous to Sphinx Creek, then a steady, moderate climb. It adds that many people are on the trail at any time and that the route reaches East Lake and the John Muir and Pacific Crest trails at Vidette Meadow.¹

On the Park Service table, going this way, Charlotte Creek is at 7.5 miles, Junction Meadow at 10.3, Vidette Meadow at 13.2, the Charlotte Lake junction at 14.7, Glen Pass at 16.8, Rae Lakes at 18.7 and the Woods Creek crossing at 25.7. Glen Pass tops out at 11,978 feet.²

Length differs by source. The Park Service gives the loop as 41.4 miles, a hiker's GPS read about 43, and Hiking Project lists 40.4.^2,7,8

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Cedar Grove, Bubbs Creek, overnight: 25 people a day. Recreation.gov lists 25 people a day for Bubbs Creek, 20 of them reservable. The live daily calendar is closed until the 2027 window opens on November 28, 2026, so this is the division text, not a daily count.¹

Rules specific to this entry point

This permit cannot start the loop clockwise. For that you choose Woods Creek instead. Animal-resistant food containers are required May 1 to October 31 in the Bubbs and Woods Creek drainages, and the Park Service says hikers must carry a bear-resistant canister on the loop.^1,2

Camping limits along the way: designated sites only in Lower Paradise Valley, two nights at most in Paradise Valley, Charlotte Lake and the Kearsarge Lakes, one night per lake between Dollar Lake and Glen Pass, and none within a quarter mile of Bullfrog Lake. No campfires above 10,000 feet in the Kings River drainage.^1,4

The Park Service warns that the South Fork Kings River bridge above Paradise Valley washed out in 2016 and 2017 and that its replacement will not start before 2027. Crossing the river can be dangerous, and from Bubbs Creek you may need to backtrack to reach Cedar Grove.²

Where it leads

The route passes Junction Meadow, Vidette Meadow, Charlotte Lake, Glen Pass and the Rae Lakes before it turns down Paradise Valley. A Rae Lakes account that went the other way counts Vidette Meadow among established camps with bear boxes, and Junction Meadow camp as quiet and by the river.^2,7

Bullfrog Lake is closed to camping, grazing and stock, and Charlotte Lake and the Kearsarge Lakes each cap stays at two nights.²

What trip reports say

A five-person party that walked the loop counterclockwise lunched at Charlotte Creek, camped in lower Junction Meadow on night two and saw a bear across Bubbs Creek on day three. They ate at Vidette Meadow and camped above Charlotte Lake. The writer says the direction let them acclimate and enjoy several camps.⁶

That party crossed Glen Pass early on day four, rested a day in the Rae Lakes basin, and finished with aggressive mosquitoes at Middle Paradise Valley and a morning look at Mist Falls.⁶

Two 2018 counterclockwise hikers on Hiking Project finished in 4 days and in 5 days. One saw few bugs and two thunderstorms. Another advised being at the ranger station by about 9 a.m. to skip the line.⁸

A 2024 clockwise hiker found Upper Paradise Valley camp full late in the afternoon, with many arrivals between about 4 and 6 p.m. The writer wore a head net for nearly two days and heard of nuisance bears at several camps, Charlotte Creek among them.⁷

When to go from here

Stream crossings run high in May and early June, and Glen Pass can stay snowbound into mid to late July. Trips through the bridge area may not be possible before July.²

A 2024 mid-August hike found the washed-out river crossing at ankle depth by one account and mid-calf at the deepest spot by the author's own.⁷

Compare with nearby entry points

• Woods Creek: Woods Creek starts at the same Roads End lot with the same 25-person quota but runs the loop clockwise, the easier direction. Its first camp is 6.5 miles out at Lower Paradise Valley, against 4 miles at Sphinx Creek here.^1,2
• Copper Creek: Copper Creek also starts at Roads End but does not reach the loop. It has a 20-person quota, a first camp 4.4 miles out at Lower Tent Meadow, and goes toward Granite Basin and the Middle Fork of the Kings.¹
• Lewis Creek: Lewis Creek starts from its own trailhead, not Roads End, with a first camp at Comb Creek 4 miles out. The Forest Service Deer Cove trail also feeds it.¹

Sources

1. Sequoia and Kings Canyon Wilderness Permit, Bubbs Creek division, Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
2. Rae Lakes Loop, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
3. Wilderness Permits & Reservations, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Minimum Impact Restrictions, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Cedar Grove, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
6. A Week Long Trip Along the Rae Lakes Loop, Six Moon Designs (Jason Huckeba). Read 2026-10-15.
7. Backpacking the Rae Lakes Loop: Everything You Need to Know, No Back Home. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Rae Lakes Loop, Hiking Project. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Bubbs Creek permit

• Best Backpacking in Sequoia & Kings CanyonNine backpacking trips in Sequoia and Kings Canyon, the wilderness permit each one needs, the daily quota that governs it, and the season it sells in.