SEKI Wilderness Permit — Foothills — Hockett

Hockett (Atwell-Hockett): what makes it different

Hockett is the Atwell-Hockett permit: a roughly 10 mile climb from Atwell Mill Campground, through sequoia groves, to Hockett Meadow and its ranger cabin on the Hockett Plateau. Recreation.gov sells 25 people a day, and the first legal camp is Clover Creek, 6 miles up.^1,2

Getting to the start

Permits come from the Mineral King Ranger Station. NPS lists its quota-season desk hours as 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., says hours may vary, and says you self-issue if no ranger is there. Recreation.gov puts parking at the Atwell Mill trailhead.^3,1

NPS says the trail starts at Atwell Mill Campground. A trail-running guide walks through the campground and past the stumps of sequoias logged in the late 1800s, plus the remains of a steam engine within the first 100 yards. Parkwolf reports parking, a vault toilet, trash cans and potable water at the trailhead.^2,9,6

A 2021 family trip drove the last 60 plus miles of winding road to the ranger station on the morning of the hike. They had to move scented items from the van into the public bear box in the lot, and the writer warns against leaving valuables in a box anyone can open.⁷

The first leg

The first mile drops about 500 feet through ponderosa, sugar pine and sequoia to a bridge over the East Fork Kaweah River, beside a waterfall. After that the trail climbs for about eight miles, steadily rather than steeply, with little flat ground.⁹

Distances to the meadow vary. Recreation.gov says 9.8 miles, NPS says 10, the 2021 family logged 10.5, and Parkwolf maps 10.6 each way. Plan for about 10.^1,2,7,6

The first allowed camp is Clover Creek, 6 miles from Atwell Mill Campground. The 2021 family had planned all 10.5 miles in one day but knew about a camp near mile 7.5 and stopped there because of heat and the climb.^1,2,7

Terrain and difficulty

NPS calls the Atwell-Hockett Trail an easy to moderate climb and a popular stock trail, and Recreation.gov calls it moderately strenuous. Expect horse traffic and filter your water, which the trail-running guide says is plentiful.^2,1,9

Parkwolf maps roughly 2,900 feet of gain on the way in, and the 2021 family felt over 3,000 feet in 10.5 miles. They found the last 1.5 miles of the return climb open to the sun, which hurt morale.^6,7

The climb passes the East Grove of sequoias and crosses Clover and Corner creeks before it eases at the junction with the Tar Gap Trail. Past that junction come about two more miles of mild uphill, then flat ground for the last mile into the meadow.⁹

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Hockett (Atwell-Hockett), overnight: 25 people a day. This is the daily quota in the Atwell-Hockett division text on Recreation.gov, read October 15, 2026, with 20 of the 25 reservable. The availability calendar would not load that day, so the number comes from the division's own published description.¹

Rules specific to this entry point

At Hockett Meadow you may not camp between the trail and Whitman Creek. NPS and Recreation.gov both print that rule for this entry point.^1,4

No campfires above 9,000 feet in the Kaweah and Tule river drainages, and no fires at Summit Lake.¹

Where it leads

Hockett Meadow is the usual goal. The trail-running guide puts the ranger station on the left and a shaded public campground on the right, with bear boxes and a spring-fed stream nearby. The 2021 family camped in a designated area with a bear locker.^9,7

The ranger cabin is a three-room log building put up in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It replaced a 1906 cabin built within 200 yards, whose first ranger served there until his death in 1916.⁵

From the meadow, a 2017 Backpacking Light trip crossed Whitman Creek to Cahoon Rock and then Evelyn Lake, a granite bowl lake with large talus blocks and no trail around the shore.⁸

What trip reports say

A July 4th weekend 2021 family trip on Adventure Them Young walked in with children, camped once on the way, and spent a night at the meadow. They saw fewer than 15 people over three days, spotted a golden eagle and deer, and watched pack horses supplying the ranger station.⁷

A July 2017 Backpacking Light trip started on the Tar Gap trail and met the Atwell Mill junction just before Horse Creek, where the water was a wade. They camped above the creek with no mosquitoes, and the swarms they met in the meadow and on the Whitman Creek side trip confirmed the choice.⁸

The trail-running guide, written by a regular, calls this a good first multi-day trip for new backpackers and sets up a base camp at the meadow for several days of easy runs.⁹

When to go from here

The July 2021 family started in the 60s and reached the low 80s by afternoon. The July 2017 couple found creeks running hard and mosquitoes thick at the meadow, which pushed them to a camp lower on the trail.^7,8

Staffing is not constant. The 2021 family met a summer ranger living in the meadow cabin, while the 2017 couple found the ranger station with no ranger around.^7,8

Compare with nearby entry points

• Tar Gap: Tar Gap starts from Cold Spring Campground, also with a 25 person quota, and NPS counts 12 miles to Hockett Meadow with the first camp at Deer Creek, 4 miles in. Atwell-Hockett is the shorter way to the same meadow.^1,2
• Paradise Ridge: Paradise Ridge also starts at Atwell Mill Campground but is a steep, hot, dry climb to Redwood Meadow, 10 miles away, with its first camp 3 miles in and no water. Its quota is 15 people a day with 10 reservable.^1,2
• Garfield Grove: Garfield Grove starts at South Fork Campground and climbs through sequoias onto the same Hockett Plateau. NPS puts its first camp at Snowslide, 4 miles in, and Recreation.gov caps it at 15 people a day.^1,2

Sources

1. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Wilderness Permits, Atwell-Hockett division, Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
2. Wilderness Trail Descriptions, 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. Hockett Meadow Ranger Station, Wikipedia. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Atwell-Hockett Trail, Parkwolf. Read 2026-10-15.
7. National Park Recap: Sequoia National Park, Hockett Meadow Backpack, Adventure Them Young. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Mineral King 5 Day Loop TR, Backpacking Light forums. Read 2026-10-15.
9. Atwell-Hockett Trail, Trail Run Project. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Hockett permit