SEKI Wilderness Permit — Cedar Grove — Lewis Creek

Cedar Grove, Lewis Creek: what makes it different

Lewis Creek is the quiet Cedar Grove entry: a hot, steep, dusty climb out of Highway 180 toward Kennedy Pass, Grizzly Lakes and Kennedy Canyon, through ground burned in 2024. Recreation.gov and the Park Service disagree on where the first camp is, and the trail past Kennedy Pass is a navigation job.^1,4

Getting to the start

The trailhead is on Highway 180, the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway, near Sheep Creek Campground. The Park Service page lists parking, a toilet and trash cans there. You still pick up the permit at the Roads End permit station, which is open 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the quota season.^3,1,5

Recreation.gov says the permit also covers a start on the Hotel Creek Trail, and that hikers coming down from the Deer Cove Trail in Sequoia National Forest can get this permit if they plan to travel on through the parks.¹

The first leg

The first camp depends on which page you trust. Recreation.gov puts the first allowed camping 4 miles from the Lewis Creek trailhead, at Comb Creek. The Park Service trail list and its trailhead page both say Frypan Meadow, 5.5 miles. Plan for the later figure unless a ranger tells you otherwise at the desk.^1,2,3

The Park Service trailhead page measures the whole trail at 9.8 miles one way. The page was last updated in March 2021.³

A 2006 party reached Frypan Meadow around 7:45 p.m. One member turned back at the Hotel Creek turnoff, which sits on the way up.⁷

Terrain and difficulty

Recreation.gov calls the trail hot and strenuously steep, with few people, and says to start early. The Park Service adds dusty and says the trail becomes difficult to follow north of Kennedy Pass.^1,2,3

A 2001 group logged about 9 miles and 5,400 feet of climbing from the trailhead to Grizzly Lakes, mostly on sandy tread that raised dust. A 2006 party called the trailhead hot and dusty and found the trail faint past Frypan Meadow, with wildflowers closing in where the ground stayed wet.^6,7

Recreation.gov says the Kennedy Canyon trail is faint and should be treated as a cross-country route.¹

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Cedar Grove, Lewis Creek, overnight: 25 people a day. Recreation.gov lists 25 people a day for Lewis Creek, 20 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

No campfires in Granite Basin or above 10,000 feet. The booking page prints this under the Lewis Creek division.¹

Burn area. Recreation.gov says the Lewis Creek drainage shows recent fire ecology. The Park Service conditions page says hikers will see burned and dead trees from the 2024 Happy Fire along Lewis Creek and Hotel Creek, so pick camps and rest stops with that in mind.^1,4

Where it leads

The booking page names Grizzly Lakes, Kennedy Lakes and Kennedy Canyon. The 2006 loop used the pass above the trail to reach East Kennedy Lake and the Volcanic Lakes, then went over Granite Pass and down to the Copper Creek side.^1,7

The 2001 group camped at Grizzly Lakes, climbed Mount Harrington from there, and walked out on the Deer Cove Trail with a car waiting at the other end.⁶

What trip reports say

The October 2001 Harrington trip found water hard to come by on the climb. At Grizzly Lakes the water was shallow and silty, the surface froze overnight and one filter clogged. They met a solo hiker just past Frypan Meadow and walked out the Deer Cove Trail, which they also called steep and dusty, in under four hours.⁶

A July 30 to August 3, 2006 loop left camp at Frypan Meadow around 10:15 a.m. and climbed the last 800 feet to Kennedy Pass, which the writer called very steep. From the pass the first big views of the Sierra opened up. Mosquitoes were severe at the Volcanic Lakes.⁷

When to go from here

Heat is the limit on this side. Both the booking page and the Park Service say to start early, and two reports call the trailhead hot and dusty. Water in the 2001 October report was the opposite problem, so late season needs a plan.^1,2,6

Check the Park Service conditions page before you commit. Its 07/31/2026 entry for Lewis Creek and Kennedy Pass says the trail is hard to follow and that a navigation aid is critical to stay on the route.⁴

Compare with nearby entry points

• Copper Creek: Copper Creek starts from Roads End, has a smaller quota of 20 people, and puts the first camp 4.4 miles out at Lower Tent Meadow. It reaches the same Granite Basin and Volcanic Lakes country by a different climb.¹
• Bubbs Creek: Bubbs Creek is the busy Rae Lakes Loop start from Roads End. Lewis Creek is the opposite: few people, no loop, and a trail that fades north of Kennedy Pass.^1,3
• Woods Creek: Woods Creek is the clockwise Rae Lakes Loop start, 25 people a day, with a first camp 6.5 miles out. Lewis Creek has the same 25-person division quota but a harder, hotter climb and no maintained loop.¹

Sources

1. Sequoia and Kings Canyon Wilderness Permit, Lewis 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. Lewis Creek Trailhead, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Trail Conditions, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Wilderness Permits & Reservations, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Mt. Harrington, Climber.org (Tony Stegman). Read 2026-10-15.
7. Volcanic Lakes loop, Climber.org (Will Mollandsimms). Read 2026-10-15.
8. Minimum Impact Restrictions, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Lewis Creek permit