Discover the Giant Forest and General Sherman Tree at your own pace with a self-guided Sequoia National Park audio tour. These smartphone-based tours use GPS to trigger stories and navigation even without cell service.
Free Cancellation GPS audio guides your drive through Sequoia National Park to Moro Rock and the General Sherman Tree.
Free Cancellation Drive Sequoia and Kings Canyon with offline, GPS-triggered audio narration for General Sherman and Moro Rock.
Read what travelers share about their experience visiting Sequoia National Park — from practical tips to personal highlights.
Audio tours turn your smartphone into a GPS-triggered guide through Sequoia National Park. The app tracks your location as you drive the winding Generals Highway. It plays narration about sequoia biology and black bear habits exactly when you reach specific landmarks.
Walk up to a 275-foot trunk measuring 36 feet across. A paved, half-mile accessible trail leads directly to the largest tree on Earth by volume.
Climb 400 concrete steps carved into a 6,725-foot granite dome. The summit provides 360-degree views over the Great Western Divide and the Kaweah River canyon.
Drive through the largest unlogged sequoia grove on the planet. The route connects major trees and trailheads, including the two-mile Congress Trail loop.
Drive your vehicle straight through a fallen giant sequoia. A car-sized tunnel was cut into this trunk after it fell across the Crescent Meadow Road in 1937.
Drop 8,000 feet from rim to river if you opt for the combined tour. This adjacent park features sheer granite cliffs and the General Grant Tree.
Walk the easy loop around a lush opening ringed by sequoias. Naturalist John Muir called this spot the Gem of the Sierra.
Booking an audio tour requires some digital preparation before you lose cell service. The park has no reliable signal, so you must download the app and the tour content while on strong Wi-Fi.
You can buy a single Sequoia tour or a bundle covering both Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Both play automatically via the Shaka Guide app based on your GPS location.
Audio tours do not include park admission. You need to pay the $35 private vehicle fee at the entrance station using a credit or debit card, as cash is not accepted.
You need a smartphone with location services enabled. Download the app and redeem your 10-digit booking reference code before driving up the mountain.
The tours work entirely offline once downloaded. The app uses your phone's internal GPS to trigger audio and provide turn-by-turn directions without needing cellular data.
During busy summer months, some areas like Crescent Meadow Road restrict private vehicles. The audio tour still works if you ride the free park shuttle.
Fill your tank in Three Rivers or Visalia before heading up. Sequoia National Park has no gas stations, and the steep climbs burn fuel quickly.
If you want to visit Crystal Cave, you must buy separate tickets in advance online or in Three Rivers. The audio tour does not cover this half-mile steep hike or the 50-minute underground tour.
Both audio tours offer a full refund if canceled at least 24 hours before your scheduled departure time. The tours themselves never expire once purchased.
Swipe to see more
| Sequoia Only Audio Tour | Kings Canyon Audio Tour | Two-Park Audio Bundle | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Sequoia National Park | Kings Canyon National Park | Both Sequoia & Kings Canyon |
| Price | $11.99 per vehicle | Included in bundle | $19.99 per vehicle |
| Best for | Short day trips focused on the Giant Forest | Visitors exploring the deep canyon and Grant Grove | Multi-day visits and complete Sierra Nevada road trips |
| Duration | Flexible (typically 4-6 hours) | Flexible (typically 3-5 hours) | 48 hours recommended |
Swipe to see more
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can enter and exit at any time.
Most visitors arrive by car. The Ash Mountain Entrance on Highway 198 is the main gateway into Sequoia National Park.
June through September provides the most reliable access to all park areas. Temperatures in the sequoia groves remain comfortable, and all visitor services operate normally.
Late September and October offer fewer crowds and pleasant hiking weather in the foothills. High-elevation roads may begin closing during this window.
December through March brings heavy snow. You will likely need tire chains, and entire sections of the park will be inaccessible. Late spring can bring sudden snowstorms and dangerously swift river currents.
The park accommodates visitors with limited mobility at several major landmarks.
Services inside the park are limited, so preparation is necessary.
The National Park Service enforces strict regulations to protect the environment and wildlife.
No. You download the Shaka Guide app and the tour content while on Wi-Fi before entering the park. The app uses your phone's internal GPS to trigger the audio automatically as you drive.
It does not. You still need to pay the $35 private vehicle entrance fee at the park gate. The entrance stations only accept credit or debit cards.
Yes. The GPS triggers work whether you are driving your own car or riding the park's summer shuttle system. This is helpful when roads like Crescent Meadow restrict private vehicles.
The tour is self-paced. Most visitors spend four to six hours completing the route, depending on how long they stop to hike at Moro Rock or the Giant Forest.
The tours never expire. Once you purchase and download the content to your phone, you can use it on your current trip and any future visits.
Download the Shaka Guide app from your app store. Open the support tab, select retrieve purchases, and enter the 10-digit booking reference number from your ticket.
The audio tour provides directions to the cave road, but you cannot buy cave tickets on site. You must purchase tickets in advance online or in Three Rivers before heading up.
Pets can ride in your car, but they are not allowed on any park trails. You will have to leave them in the vehicle or stick to paved parking lots when stopping at landmarks.
The offline map tracks your location in real time. If you take a wrong turn, you can look at the screen to correct your route and get back on the suggested path.
There is no gas available inside Sequoia National Park. You need to fill your tank in Three Rivers or Visalia before starting the tour.
Browse verified tours with free cancellation and instant confirmation.
Find Tours
Your phone tracks your drive through Sequoia National Park, triggering narration as you pull up to the General Sherman Tree and Moro Rock. The audio covers sequoia biology and black bear habits along the route. At General Sherman, you'll walk right up to a 275-foot trunk that measures 36 feet across at the ground. It gets packed by noon. Start before 9 a.m. Cell service vanishes past the Foothills visitor center, so download the entire tour through the Shaka Guide app before leaving your hotel. Without pre-downloading, the audio won't load at all. Plug your phone into the car stereo, or bring headphones for the walking trails. Moro Rock's 350-step stairway gets slick in morning moisture—hike it after midday when the stone dries out.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
This bundle puts two self-guided driving tours onto your smartphone through the Shaka Guide app. In Sequoia, the route leads past the Giant Forest to the 275-foot General Sherman Tree, then winds toward Moro Rock, where 350 steps climb a bare granite dome. Kings Canyon drops 8,000 feet from rim to river—deeper than the Grand Canyon—down to Zumwalt Meadow and the General Grant Tree. Audio stories trigger automatically via your phone's GPS as you approach each turnout. Stop wherever you like. Cell service drops almost immediately past the park gates on Highway 198. Download both tours over Wi-Fi before you leave, because the audio will not load at the entrance kiosk. Parking at General Sherman fills by 10:00 a.m. throughout the summer. Arrive at dawn or catch the shuttle from Lodgepole. Highway 180 into Kings Canyon also closes after rockslides, so verify that the road to Cedar Grove is open before driving past Grant Grove. Split the trip across two days. Rushing both parks into daylight turns the switchbacks into a slog behind slow RVs.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English