Franklin Lakes Gear Checklist

What shapes your gear on Franklin Lakes

How far, as the sources print it

The Park Service lists the first allowed campsite at the Franklin and Farewell Junction, 4 miles from the trailhead. A trail guide on the Outbound puts the lakes at 5.7 miles with 2,500 feet of gain. A 2013 blogger logged 5.75 miles, 2,750 feet of gain and 3.75 hours. A second leg from the lakes to Franklin Pass adds 2.8 miles and 1,500 feet, per the Outbound.

From National Park Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon: Wilderness Trail Descriptions, The Outbound Collective and 1000 Hikes in 1000 Days

Elevation steps

The 2013 blogger started at 7,820 feet and reached the junction at 9,360 feet after 2 hours. The dam at the lake sits at 10,331 feet, and the blogger pitched a tent at about 10,500 feet, one level above the bear box. A 1995 party in a huge snow year camped below the dam, in snow, at the same 10,331 feet.

From 1000 Hikes in 1000 Days and Climber.Org

Horses and signs

The Park Service describes this as a popular stock trail. The 2013 blogger found plenty of manure most of the way and noticed that trail signs showed more miles than his map. The sign to Franklin Pass read 8.1 miles where the map said 7.1.

From National Park Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon: Wilderness Trail Descriptions and 1000 Hikes in 1000 Days

Camping at the lakes

An Outbound trail guide says the lake campground is first come, first served, calls the lakeside sites the best, and has you pull water from the shore. The 2013 blogger found a bear box at the first camping spot and camped above it. Other campers pitched close by, one level down.

From The Outbound Collective and 1000 Hikes in 1000 Days

Food storage, as three accounts state it

The Park Service food storage page lists the areas where a container is required, and Mineral King is not among them. The permit page says containers are required in most of the park. The Outbound guide says you need a container and can rent one from the ranger station, and the 2013 blogger rented one and found it a bulky load.

From National Park Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon: Wilderness Food Storage, National Park Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon: Wilderness Permits, The Outbound Collective and 1000 Hikes in 1000 Days

The pass above the lakes

A 2025 group found Franklin Pass easy by Sierra standards but slowed by pockets of deep sand, with dark clouds moving in from the south by the time they topped out. In the 1995 snow year the same climb took 5 and a half hours from the lakes, and the party stalled until the sun had softened the slope on the west side.

From Trails Magazine and Climber.Org

Fire rules

The campfire elevation limit in Sequoia is 9,000 feet west of the Great Western Divide and 10,000 feet east of it. Mineral King Valley above the ranger station bans fires outright.

From National Park Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon: Minimum Impact Restrictions

What hikers carry on Franklin Lakes

• A tarp sized to the car, with long cord

  A forum poster who has used one said to measure the car, add two or three feet beyond each end and side, and use a tough woven tarp with two 50-foot cords. Marmots go for wiring, brake lines and coolant hoses. The 2013 blogger saw cars wrapped in tarps and chicken wire in the lot. A 2025 blog post says the ranger station keeps giant loaner tarps in a shed, usually stocked in early summer.

  A chicken-wire wrap was also described, though one poster said it protects only about the first two feet above the dirt.

  From Backpacking Light forum, 1000 Hikes in 1000 Days and Somewhere Sierra

• A bear canister, or a plan for the lake's bear box

  The 2013 blogger rented a canister at the ranger station and carried it, then used the box at the first lake camp. The Outbound trail guide says canisters are required here and rent at the station.

  From 1000 Hikes in 1000 Days, The Outbound Collective and National Park Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon: Wilderness Permits

• A filter that can fill everything in one trip

  The Outbound guide says water comes from the lake. If you camp away from the shore, it recommends a large filter system that needs only one trip.

  From The Outbound Collective

• Bug repellent and a head net below the pass

  The 2025 group swatted mosquitoes right after dropping below treeline on the far side. A different Mineral King loop blogger went through almost a whole bottle of repellent and wore nets.

  From Trails Magazine and Somewhere Sierra

• Gaiters or taller shoes for the sand

  The Franklin Pass sand slowed the 2025 group. A Sawtooth Pass hiker on a nearby loop filled both shoes with gravel on the descent and regretted leaving gaiters at home.

  From Trails Magazine and Somewhere Sierra

• Microspikes and an ice axe in a snowy early season

  In May 2013 a forum poster urged anyone eyeing the passes to carry both, with snow modeled at about 24 inches in Lost Canyon. The 1995 party brought no crampons and instead waited for the sun to soften the slope.

  Both accounts describe early-season snow.

  From Backpacking Light forum and Climber.Org

• A rain shell for storms over the pass

  The 2025 group saw a line of dark clouds rolling in from the south as they crested Franklin Pass and went straight down below treeline.

  From Trails Magazine

Gear questions for Franklin Lakes