SEKI Wilderness Permit — Cedar Grove — Copper Creek

Cedar Grove, Copper Creek: what makes it different

Copper Creek is the Cedar Grove entry that climbs out of Roads End onto the Granite Pass route toward Granite Basin, the Volcanic Lakes and the Middle Fork of the Kings. It is a hot, exposed climb of about 8 miles, and the permit does not reach the Rae Lakes Loop.^1,10

Getting to the start

You start at Roads End, the far end of the Cedar Grove road, where the Roads End permit station issues the permit and the lot is the trailhead parking. Cedar Grove sits near 4,600 feet. The road is usually open from May to early or mid November, depending on weather.^1,5

The station keeps quota-season hours of 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Cedar Grove is about 30 miles east of Grant Grove Village on CA 180, so a morning pickup after a night in the valley is the usual plan.^4,5

The first leg

The first legal camp is Lower Tent Meadow. Recreation.gov puts it 4.4 miles from Roads End. The Park Service trail list says 4 miles. Treat the two figures as the same camp counted two ways.^1,2

A three-person party in July 2017 logged 4.2 miles and 2,700 feet of climbing from Roads End to Lower Tent Meadow, and camped there at about 7,700 feet.⁸

Lower Tent Meadow has decent camping and a bear box, according to Hiking Project. Upper Tent Meadow, higher up, has steeply sloped sites that are hard to find and carry no sign.¹⁰

Terrain and difficulty

Both the booking page and the Park Service call the trail hot and steep and tell you to start early. The Park Service adds a second option, leaving late in the evening, which only makes sense because the first miles are in the sun.^1,2

Hiking Project calls the Copper Creek section well graded but all uphill for about 8 miles, very exposed, and hard at the start of a trip with a full pack. It ends at the Granite Lip, where the trail drops into Granite Basin.¹⁰

One hiker who did Copper Creek to Granite Pass as day one of a long loop in July 2014 reported 10 miles and 6,700 feet of climbing before camp.⁹

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Cedar Grove, Copper Creek, overnight: 20 people a day. Recreation.gov lists 20 people a day for Copper Creek, 15 of them reservable. The live daily calendar is closed outside the quota season, so this is the division text, not a daily count.¹

Rules specific to this entry point

This permit does not reach the Rae Lakes Loop. For that you pick the Woods Creek or Bubbs Creek entry instead. Portable animal-resistant food containers are required May 1 to October 31 in the Bubbs and Woods Creek drainages, which the booking page prints under this division.¹

No campfires above 10,000 feet in the Kings River drainage, and none in Granite Basin at any elevation. The Park Service repeats the Granite Basin ban.^1,3

Where it leads

The booking page names Granite Basin, Granite Lake, the Volcanic Lakes, State Lakes and the Middle Fork of the Kings River as what the permit reaches. The Park Service lists Copper Creek as the way to the Middle Fork.^1,2

The Lip itself has no water. Hiking Project suggests a half mile of cross-country to the outlet of Grouse Lake if you want to camp near the pass.¹⁰

A 2006 loop that started on Lewis Creek and finished here climbed Goat Mountain from Grouse Lake, then camped at Lower Tent Meadow on the way out to Cedar Grove.¹¹

What trip reports say

A July 2017 trip report on Jerry Pierce's site follows three people over five days: Lower Tent Meadow the first night, Granite Lake at about 10,050 feet the second (6.6 miles, 3,500 feet up, snow above 10,000 feet), then Granite Pass at a high point of about 10,600 feet and a camp in Granite Basin at 10,500 feet.⁸

The same party crossed a snow-covered pass of about 11,300 feet to Grouse Lake on day four, a short 0.9 miles that the writer still found hard, and walked 8.3 miles and 5,500 feet down to Roads End on day five.⁸

A July 2014 post on Backpacking Light describes a fast loop up Copper Creek to Granite Pass and on to Simpson Meadow. Water was thin: a trickle across the trail at Lower Tent Meadow, a use trail about 100 feet off the route at Upper Tent Meadow, then Granite Lake. The writer carried 1.5 liters and said it was very dry that week, and logged 102 degrees F in Simpson Meadow.⁹

A 2006 report from a Volcanic Lakes loop says mosquitoes were severe at the Volcanic Lakes and in Granite Basin.¹¹

When to go from here

Snow above 10,000 feet was still on the ground in early July 2017, so the Granite Basin side can hold snow well after the lower canyon is bare.⁸

Water on the climb is the other timing question. The Park Service conditions page, updated September 24, 2026, said Copper Creek was still running that month, with water at Lower and Upper Tent Meadow and in the East and Middle Forks of Dougherty Creek. The 2014 July report found the same spots thin.^6,9

Compare with nearby entry points

• Bubbs Creek: Bubbs Creek leaves the same Roads End lot but runs the Rae Lakes Loop counterclockwise, with a 25-person quota and a first camp about 4 miles out at Sphinx Creek. Copper Creek has the smaller quota and heads away from the loop.¹
• Woods Creek: Woods Creek also starts at Roads End and takes the loop clockwise. Its first camp is 6.5 miles out, against 4.4 miles here, and its climb is gentler than Copper Creek.¹
• Lewis Creek: Lewis Creek starts at its own trailhead near Sheep Creek Campground, not Roads End, and reaches Kennedy Pass and the same Volcanic Lakes country from the west. Its quota is 25 people, 20 reservable.^1,7

Sources

1. Sequoia and Kings Canyon Wilderness Permit, Copper Creek division, Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
2. Wilderness Trail Descriptions, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
3. Minimum Impact Restrictions, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Wilderness Permits & Reservations, 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. Trail Conditions, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Lewis Creek Trailhead, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
8. 2017 Copper Creek / Kings Canyon, Jerry Pierce. Read 2026-10-15.
9. Middle Fork Kings River loop from Copper Creek (forum report), Backpacking Light forum (Andrew F.). Read 2026-10-15.
10. Simpson Meadow Trail (Copper Creek section), Hiking Project. Read 2026-10-15.
11. Volcanic Lakes loop, Climber.org (Will Mollandsimms). Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Copper Creek permit