Generals Highway

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title: "Generals Highway" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["roads-in-tulare-county,-california", "giant-sequoia-national-monument", "kings-canyon-national-park", "sequoia-national-park", "sequoia-national-forest", "historic-american-engineering-record-in-california", "national-register-of-historic-places-in-tulare-county,-california", "named-highways-in-california"] description: "Highway in California" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generals_Highway" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Highway in California ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox road"]

Field	Value
state	CA
type	FH-named
route	Generals Highway
map
map_custom	yes
map_notes	Generals Highway highlighted in green
length_mi	32.5
length_ref
maint	U.S. Forest Service and NPS
direction_a	South
terminus_a	in Sequoia National Park
direction_b	North
terminus_b	in Kings Canyon National Park
counties	Tulare
::

|state=CA |type=FH-named |route=Generals Highway |map= |map_custom=yes |map_notes=Generals Highway highlighted in green |length_mi=32.5 |length_round= |length_ref= |established= |maint=U.S. Forest Service and NPS |direction_a=South |terminus_a= in Sequoia National Park |junction= |direction_b=North |terminus_b= in Kings Canyon National Park |counties=Tulare

The Generals Highway is a highway that connects State Route 180 and State Route 198 through Sequoia National Park, Sequoia National Forest, Giant Sequoia National Monument, and Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada of California. As the road goes through national parks and monuments, the highway is primarily maintained by the federal government instead of a California State Highway controlled by Caltrans.

Route description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/2013-09-20_11_58_57_View_from_Generals_Highway_in_Sequoia_National_Park_north_of_Amphitheater_Point.JPG" caption="Switchbacks on Generals Highway"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Generals_Highway,_Clover_Creek_Bridge,_Spanning_Clover_Creek_on_Generals_Highway,_approxi,Three_Rivers_vicinity(Tulare_County,_California).jpg" caption="Clover Creek Bridge spanning Clover Creek on Generals Highway"] ::

It is named after two of the largest and most famous Giant Sequoia trees, the General Sherman and General Grant trees. The highway is notoriously steep, narrow, winding, and difficult to drive, especially its southern section from Hospital Rock to Giant Forest within Sequoia National Park. This section also consists of numerous switchbacks, and has a speed limit of 10 MPH. Regulations restrict the length of vehicles—they must not exceed 40 ft, although vehicles longer than 22 ft are not recommended to use the road between Potwisha Campground and Giant Forest Museum. |url=http://home.nps.gov/seki/parkmgmt/upload/SuptComp%2709_8Roads,Vehicles%20Limits,%20etc.pdf |title=Vehicles and Traffic Safety |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=2010-01-16

The Generals Highway begins as a continuation of SR 198, where the state highway legally ends at the southern boundary of Sequoia National Park, although some commercially produced maps may still show the Generals Highway as part of SR 198. The road travels northeast along the middle fork of the Kaweah River and enters Sequoia National Park through the Indian Head Entrance. Near the Hospital Rock turnout, the road turns north and goes through several turns before straightening out and continuing northeast, passing near the General Sherman Tree. At Lodgepole Bridge, the road turns west before later turning north. Generals Highway leaves Sequoia National Park through the North Entrance, entering Sequoia National Forest. The road continues northwest through Giant Sequoia National Monument before traveling along the northern border of Kings Canyon National Park, briefly entering it before terminating at SR 180.

History

Two of the stone bridges on the highway are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. | url = | title = National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form | publisher = National Park Service | access-date = 2010-01-16 }}

Major intersections

|location_special=Sequoia National Park |lspan=2 |mile=0.00 |road= |notes=Continuation beyond the Sequoia National Park southern boundary |type=toll |mile=0.30 |place=Ash Mountain Entrance Station; park fee or pass required for entry |location_special=Kings Canyon National Park |mile=32.5 |road= |notes=

References

References

1. "NPS: History of the Generals Highway". National Park Service.
2. "Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (U.S. National Park Service)".
3. "Sequoia and Kings Canyon Road Information". National Park Service.
4. "Archived copy".
5. (2008). "California Road Atlas". Thomas Brothers.
6. "Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park Fees & Passes". National Park Service.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::