On our recent trip to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks our family stayed in the only lodge within the park boundary. We loved our stay amongst the biggest trees in the world! Keep reading for our full Wuksachi Lodge review, including if it’s worth the price or not!
the history of Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park
Wuksachi Lodge is just north of the Lodgepole Campground and Visitor Center and was completed in 1999. It was built as a replacement for environmentally unfriendly accommodations removed the Giant Forest area. When you know better, you do better.
| Related: Visiting Sequoia National Park with Kids |
Wuksachi Lodge is composed of a main building that houses the lobby, restaurant, gift shop, small game room, and seasonal outdoor pizza deck. In total there are 102 guest rooms spread out among three buildings, although original plans do have the potential for 414 rooms in total.
Wuksachi Lodge Review: our thoughts
the rooms at Wuksachi Lodge
Our family stayed in two rooms at Wuksachi Lodge. I was a little surprised and annoyed when we checked it (after exploring a bit of the park) around 7:00 pm and learned that they (supposedly) don’t assign rooms ahead of time. Due to this, our two rooms were not only not next to each other, but weren’t even on the same floor. I guess we should be glad we were in the same building.
| Related: Staying at Yosemite Valley Lodge |
I don’t know if that’s normal, if it’s because we booked through a third party, but I think it’s important for parents to know that’s a possibility. Because several of our kids are older, we made it work and it was fine.
The rooms are simple, but spacious. We had two Queen beds in each room and found the beds fairly comfortable. There are televisions, mini fridges, microwaves, and Keurig makers in each room. If you have little ones, don’t forget to bring hot chocolate pods for the Keurig! The water in the shower was also plenty hot enough with excellent water pressure.
Wuksachi Lodge: dining options
Wuksachi Lodge is fairly simple but they do offer two dining options on site. They have an indoor restaurant where reservations are recommend, and a seasonal outdoor patio. Mike and I left the kids in the room one night and went out to the restaurant and it was very delicious! I also noticed they had kids menus that looked affordable.
The outdoor patio is open in the afternoon and offers pizza and few other simple items like sandwiches and salads. Again, because it’s outdoors, this is only open seasonally and is weather-dependent. You can also pick up a few snacks and frozen meal options from the lobby gift shop.
bottom line: is it worth it?
As is often the case with national park lodging, you are paying for the convenience of staying “where the action is.” The buildings could definitely use some TLC, but we had no issues (other than room placement) while we were there and the rooms did seem clean.
Keep in mind that this is also the only lodging option besides campgrounds within Sequoia National Park, and is one of only two overnight accommodations between the two parks that are open year-round. Kings Canyon does have four other options (besides campgrounds) that are open for a portion of the year.
However, if you want to go to Sequoia National Park in the off season, or you really don’t want to camp, then it may be worth it to you. The drive into the main part of the park is quite long and windy, especially from the southern Sequoia entrance.
Would you stay here?
Follow along with our family’s adventures on Instagram!
