Favorite trailhead in kings canyon?

Kings Canyon has a west side and an east side. Mammoth is near the east side.

The Bishop Creek drainage west of Bishop has lots of trailheads near North Lake, Lake Sabrina, and South Lake. In some cases, you may be crossing between Forest Service wilderness and the National Park. Trails interconnect the lakes, in some cases with the park boundary involved.

On the west side, some of the trailheads are a bit remote and require lots of driving to reach. Courtright Reservoir and Florence Lake come to mind. The one heavily used trailhead directly inside Kings Canyon is called Roads End, near Cedar Grove, and there is a permit station right there, if that tells you anything.

–B.G.–

If you're meeting your friend in Mammoth, it would make sense to go in from the East Side. All of the options up around Bishop that Bob made reference to would take you into some nice country, including Kings Canyon. My personal favorites up there are the country accessed via Paiute Pass and Lamarck Col but they, and all the others up there, are crowded during the high season, and getting a permit can sometimes be a problem. If you'd like a little more solitude, and considerably more exercise, consider Taboose Pass down south of Big Pine. It is a rough pass that takes you into some very pretty Kings Canyon country pretty directly. You could check out Bench Lake, Upper Basin, and even Lakes Basin if you are comfortable with off trail route finding and travel. Lake Basin can be accessed either via Cartridge Pass or Frozen Lake Pass and would make a great 4-5 day lollipop route via Taboose Pass, with a day layover to explore the basin. It is drop dead beautiful. If you move reasonably quickly, you might even have time to throw in a side trip to Bench Lake on the way out. Lots less people down that way.

Thanks to both of you for your feedback. I will sit down tomorrow with my map and look at the details of the route you outlined Tom.

Bob and Tom pretty much nailed it. Bishop Pass into Dusy Basin is quite nice, and exiting via Lamarck Col is a lot of fun too. Kearsarge Pass gets you into some beautiful country rather quick

Enjoy your trip as this visit will turn into an addiction with Kings and Sequoia or better known as SEKI