Dear NEXT TRAVELER to Sequoia National Park, Venice Beach & Los Angeles.
Highlights/Recommendations:

1. Sequoia National Park
2. Los Angeles LDS Temple
3. Santa Monica Pier
4. Venice Beach

For our 29th Anniversary in 2025, we decided it was past time to visit Las Vegas and check the state of Nevada off our dream travel list. Instead of flying directly to Las Vegas, we wanted to visit a couple places in Los Angeles, so we flew into LAX, visited Sequoia National Park, Santa Monica pier, Venice Beach & the Los Angeles LDS Temple and then drove on to Las Vegas. WHAT amazing places!
My husband, Brad lived in California, Los Angeles for two years while he was serving a mission for our church. A huge piece of his heart is with the people and communities around Los Angeles. He’s always looking for an opportunity to visit California and he has always wanted me to see inside the Los Angeles LDS temple. When we started planning our trip to Nevada, we thought it would be a great time to see things in both states. I had already been to several beaches in California and we decided to also add Venice Beach & the Santa Monica pier to our travels.

Sequoia National Park. I have always been fascinated by the massive sequoia trees and knew if I ever had some time in California, I would like to include them in a visit. I was so excited about seeing the sequoias on this trip. The biggest takeaway from the visit to the park is WHY HAVEN’T I BEEN THERE SOONER AND WHY HAVEN’T PEOPLE TALKED MORE ABOUT IT? I was blown away by the entire park. The size of the trees and the feeling in the park is incredible. I didn’t really do a lot of planning for timing while at the park. I was unsure of what to expect. Would we be tired of seeing trees after the first grouping and ready to go? I found that I never got tired of seeing the trees! Each grouping was different and held its own special features. If you are able to time your trip, I highly recommend being at Moro Rock for sunset. We didn’t plan for that to happen, but we were blown away by the views at sunset. It felt like it was divine providence or a tender mercy, as I like to call it. It lined up beautifully for us.
We were in the park for 4 hours and truly that wasn’t long enough. I would plan for a minimum of 6 hours. There’s a lot more to see than I realized and the tree grove groupings take time to get to and some of the roads you have to take your time on. Roads in the parks are narrow, winding, and steep elevations. The scenery even coming into the park is beautiful. The entrance fee for a private vehicle is $35. If you are planning to visit any more national parks within the year, I recommend you go ahead and purchase an annual pass for $70.
The area actually includes two parks ~ Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Sequoia National Park features the Hospital Rock, General Sherman Tree, Crescent Meadow, and Moro Rock. Kings Canyon National Park features the General Grant Tree and panoramic views of the parks. We chose only Sequoia National Park on this visit. The parks are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Reservations are not required. Occasionally, winter storms will close some of the park roads. We made sure we checked the park website to see if there were any closures before we arrived.  
After paying the entrance fee, we drove into the park and started making our way toward the enormous trees. As soon as we entered the park, we could see Moro Rock in the distance. Later that day at sunset, we stood at the top of the rock to see the valley below. It was unreal. As we followed the Generals Highway, a winding road up toward the Giant Forest, we were saddened to see burnt trees scattered through the park due to fires from lighting strikes in previous years. There are several overlook areas where you can safely stop and see from the higher elevations.

We drove to the General Sherman tree area. The main parking area and trailhead for the General Sherman Tree is one of the main shuttle stops in the parks. Shuttles stop here every 15 to 20 minutes. “During the busiest times of the year, Sequoia National Park offers free shuttle rides between attractions in the Giant Forest and Lodgepole areas. Shuttles ONLY operate within Sequoia National Park; there are no shuttles in Kings Canyon National Park. The parking at the Giant Forest Museum and the General Sherman Tree is usually full by mid-morning.” The General Sherman Tree is about a half mile hike from the parking lot. It’s not a difficult walk down to the tree, but the walk back is uphill and strenuous for most people. Allow enough time to make the hike back.

“The Congress Trail starts near the Sherman Tree, and provides a tour of some of the most spectacular sequoia tress in the Giant Forest. This three-mile loop also connects to other trails that can take you throughout Giant Forest.” We were in complete amazement of the General Sherman Tree. It was stunning and unlike anything we had ever seen. “There are taller trees, and wider trees, but the General Sherman Tree contains more wood (volume) in its trunk than any other tree on Earth. Behind the Sherman Tree are the General Grant, President, Lincoln, and Stagg trees. Rapid growth over a long life accounts for the size of these trees. The most recent age estimate of the Sherman Tree is about 2200 years old.”

After our visit to the General Sherman Tree and on our way to Moro Rock, we visited the Park Buttress Tree and The Tunnel Log. The Buttress Tree fell on June 3, 1959. This tree is amazing to visit because of the opportunity to see the incredible root structure. Sequoia roots are shallow but spread wide and connect with other sequoia tree roots to strengthen and support each individual tree.

The Tunnel Log – “This giant sequoia fell across the road in 1937. Rather than remove it, Civilian Conservation Corps workers (the CCC) tunneled through it, creating the only “tree-you-can-drive-through” in these parks.” To be able to drive through one of these amazing trees is unreal. It makes for such an awesome picture.

We made it to Moro Rock just before sunset. It was a spectacular sight watching the sunset from such an amazing view. Moro Rock is a granite dome rock formation. The elevation is 6,725 feet. The first stairway leading to the summit of Moro Rock was constructed of wood and installed in 1917. This stairway didn’t last very long due to deterioration and was replaced in 1931 by the present Moro Rock Stairway. The 797-foot-long stairway has 400 steps that lead to the summit of Moro Rock. The stairway to the summit of Moro Rock is pretty easy to navigate and has a handrail the length of the pathway. Everyone took them time walking the stairway and there were incredible views along the path as you made your way to the top. The view is unmatched. Being at the summit of Moro Rock for sunset is a fantastic plan!

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK IS INCREDIBLE! felt incredibly blessed to experience the feelings of awe while seeing the incredibly enormous sequoia trees.

Los Angeles LDS Temple. I was overwhelmed by how large the temple is. It is huge and beautiful inside and out. Probably my favorite part of the outside of the temple is the fragrant olive trees in front of the temple. They are magnificent. From the temple grounds to the displays in the Visitor Center, there were so many things that pointed to Jerusalem and the Holy City. The Los Angeles temple is the 10th dedicated temple in operation. The temple was announced in 1937 and dedicated in 1956 by David O. McKay. The site that the temple and visitors center is on is 13 acres with beautiful gardens that include olive trees, palm trees, ginkgo trees, fountains, a reflecting pool, benches, and parking lots. The temple is 257 feet tall with 190,614 square feet. We felt so blessed to be worshipping in the temple together as we were celebrating 29 years together. There were beautiful reminders of the promises that we had made to each other on our wedding day.

In the visitors’ center is a stunning Christus statue. There are many displays, exhibits, and a short film. The temple and visitor center is located at 10777 Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles.

Santa Monica Pier. I’ve always heard about the pier and since we were in the area…..
We made it to the Santa Monica pier in the early morning before the restaurants and shops had opened. There weren’t that many people on the pier and those that were out, were walking, jogging or riding skateboards. The beach area was calm and peaceful. I grew up in a beach town and have traveled to many beaches and I was amazed at how deep the beach was. There was so much sand!
The pier has a great fun vibe with the ferris wheel, many places to eat, shops, a video arcade, and the original carousel from the 1920s housed within the Looff Hippodrome, featuring the hand‑carved wooden horses. The Looff is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. At the end of the pier, we saw several fishermen. They were friendly and talked to us about what type of fish they were catching.
The original municipal pier opened September 9, 1909. There have been many changes to the pier over the years due to changes in ownership and damage to the pier. In the 1920s, the Santa Monica pier had a ballroom that was the largest dance hall on the west coast, accommodating 5,000 dancers. In the 1950s, the Hollywood Autocade opened with 100 famous and unusual cars. From 1955 to 1962, the ballroom served as a roller skating rink. The pier has been the location for many films since the 1930s. Interesting personal connection: On May 25, 1996, the Santa Monica Pier welcomed Pacific Park, an oceanfront amusement park. This was our actual wedding date. Pacific Park looks directly out on the Pacific Ocean. It is the only amusement park on the West Coast, located on a pier.

Venice Beach. We honestly only stayed in Venice Beach for around 8 hours and that included our sleep time. Venice Beach is wild! There was a cologne launch party event going on the night we arrived and Benson Boone was the performer. We wished we had arrived a few hours earlier. They were people all along the street that our hostel was located on. It took us some time to figure out where to park. We chose to park on the street. The parking lots were unbelievably expensive. We knew it was a risk not being in a secure parking lot.

I had always been curious about a hostel in the US and decided to try it out. The hostel room is absolutely nothing fancy, definitely bare bones. Although things were dated, the room felt clean. You do share bathrooms with everyone that’s also staying on the same floor. The bathrooms were dated and not the cleanest. For full discloser, I chose to not take a shower that night. It was a little too much for me. The hostel in Venice Beach is not something I will look for in the future, but if that’s the only option, it can be manageable.

We were up early that morning before sunrise and walked out to the beach. The water was beautiful and the sand was a light tan color. We walked along the beach and saw a group of surfers out in the water and watched them catch a few waves. We saw the Venice Beach Boardwalk but none of the shops were open that early. There were a lot of murals and graffiti down the boardwalk, even on the trees. There were also some homeless people along the boardwalk. We felt like Venice Beach was New Orleans and a beach mixed together. After enjoying the sand and water, we checked out and walked a couple blocks to our car. We were happy to find it was safely parked on the street all night.

If we had more time, I would have liked to visit the Venice Canals and even rent a kayak for a few hours. It sounds dreamy. I would have also liked to go to Venice Skate Park and just see the people skateboarding.

Including California in our visit to Nevada was such a great bonus. We already knew we liked Los Angeles and other parts of California, but fell in love with Sequoia National Park.