Sequoia Natural History Association

Friendly rangers, Jr Ranger Program, cool displays, fun presentations, great books and videos for all ages
This place is worth the stop if you have never been, but it would be even better if the bathrooms were cleaned once in a while and the parking lot wasnt always so packed, but I dont blame the others for being here too…

I’m over these guys, seriously… and I was one of the last holdouts. My interest is the Pear Lake Ski Hut, which they run, but…
a) you have to pay $ 40 (each) just to enter the lottery. I entered 4 times, finally one — and this year, 8 of my friends lost (and some were quite annoyed). I actually think the lottery is rigged, and that was years ago.
b) epic snowstorm, park closed down except to employees, yosemite down the road is evacuating people, other friends try to self-​rescue ski out there and made 10 miles in 3 days, big mess… and we’re supposed to ski in to Pear Lake after this giant (7? 10? foot storm), with more storms on the way — e.g. totally unsafe and futile -, and they won’t let us reschedule or refund. We lose $ 1100.
c) and I know two — TWO — groups who were allowed to reschedule for the following year for a) too much snow and b) no snow. but not us!
I’m over it. So are all my friends. That’s $ 400+ in membership fees EVERY YEAR for the REST OF OUR LIVES. What else the heck do they do for the park or experienced outdoor folks, anyway? NOTHING!
Rant off — this is my first negative Unilocal review, btw.

If you’re going to stay in Sequoia for a day or two, filling your day with activities and sights isn’t difficult. If you’re there camping for a few more days, becoming a Junior Ranger is a fun way to occupy your quiet camp time. SNHA developed the Junior Ranger program. I learned about it during a campfire talk when some fire fighters were sworn in and given their ranger patches.
You can find Jr. Ranger booklets
in any visitors center in the park. Based on your age– anywhere from 5 to 105, there are specific tasks to accomplish, puzzles to solve and information to compile. Like tree identification and interviewing park rangers. It was a way to learn about things and meet people in the park that you may otherwise not without the program.
Plus you score a pretty sweet pin and patch for your time
. Thanks and big-​ups to Ranger Yvonne in the Grant Grove visitor station! :)