View source for Generals Highway

{{Short description|Highway in California}}
{{Infobox road
|state=CA
|type=FH-named
|route=Generals Highway
|map={{maplink-road|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/Generals Highway}}}}
|map_custom=yes
|map_notes=Generals Highway highlighted in green
|length_mi=32.5
|length_round=
|length_ref=<ref name=NPS />
|established=
|maint=[[United States Forest Service|U.S. Forest Service]] and [[National Park Service|NPS]]
|direction_a=South
|terminus_a={{jct|state=CA|SR|198}} in [[Sequoia National Park]]
|junction=
|direction_b=North
|terminus_b={{jct|state=CA|SR|180}} in [[Kings Canyon National Park]]
|counties=[[Tulare County, California|Tulare]]
}}
The '''Generals Highway''' is a highway that connects [[California State Route 180|State Route 180]] and [[California State Route 198|State Route 198]] through [[Sequoia National Park]], [[Sequoia National Forest]], [[Giant Sequoia National Monument]], and [[Kings Canyon National Park]] in the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] of [[California]]. As the road goes through national parks and monuments, the highway is primarily maintained by the federal government instead of a [[California State Highway]] controlled by [[Caltrans]].<ref name=NPS>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/hih/generals/generals6.htm | title=NPS: History of the Generals Highway | publisher=National Park Service | website=nps.gov | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108091907/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/hih/generals/generals6.htm | archive-date=November 8, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Route description==
[[File:2013-09-20 11 58 57 View from Generals Highway in Sequoia National Park north of Amphitheater Point.JPG|thumb|left|Switchbacks on Generals Highway]]
[[File:Generals Highway, Clover Creek Bridge, Spanning Clover Creek on Generals Highway, approxi, Three Rivers vicinity (Tulare County, California).jpg|thumb|left|Clover Creek Bridge spanning Clover Creek on Generals Highway]]

It is named after two of the largest and most famous [[Sequoiadendron giganteum|Giant Sequoia]] trees, the [[General Sherman Tree|General Sherman]] and [[General Grant (tree)|General Grant]] trees.  The highway is notoriously steep, narrow, winding, and difficult to drive, especially its southern section from [[Hospital Rock (Three Rivers, California)|Hospital Rock]] to [[Giant Forest]] within Sequoia National Park. This section also consists of numerous switchbacks, and has a [[speed limit]] of 10 MPH.  Regulations restrict the length of vehicles—they must not exceed {{convert|40|ft|m}}, although vehicles longer than {{convert|22|ft|m}} are not recommended to use the road <ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm| title = Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (U.S. National Park Service)}}</ref> between Potwisha Campground and [[Giant Forest Museum]].<ref>
  {{cite web
 |url=http://home.nps.gov/seki/parkmgmt/upload/SuptComp%2709_8Roads,Vehicles%20Limits,%20etc.pdf
 |title=Vehicles and Traffic Safety 
 |publisher=[[National Park Service]] 
 |access-date=2010-01-16 
}}{{dead link|date=June 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} </ref> Furthermore, the highway north of Lodgepole campground generally closes due to snow conditions, and is not plowed between the Friday after January 1 and the third Friday in March.<ref name="closures">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/road-conditions.htm|title=Sequoia and Kings Canyon Road Information|work=National Park Service|access-date=January 29, 2023}}</ref>

The Generals Highway begins as a continuation of [[California State Route 198|SR 198]], where the state highway legally ends at the southern boundary of [[Sequoia National Park]], although some commercially produced maps may still show the Generals Highway as part of SR 198. The road travels northeast along the middle fork of the [[Kaweah River]] and enters Sequoia National Park through the Indian Head Entrance. Near the Hospital Rock turnout, the road turns north and goes through several turns before straightening out and continuing northeast, passing near the General Sherman Tree. At Lodgepole Bridge, the road turns west before later turning north. Generals Highway leaves Sequoia National Park through the North Entrance, entering [[Sequoia National Forest]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/hih/generals/generals8.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-06-16 |archive-date=2012-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108091900/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/hih/generals/generals8.jpg |url-status=dead }}</ref> The road continues northwest through [[Giant Sequoia National Monument]] before traveling along the northern border of [[Kings Canyon National Park]], briefly entering it before terminating at [[California State Route 180|SR 180]].<ref name="tgca">{{Cite map| publisher=Thomas Brothers| title=California Road Atlas| year=2008}}</ref>

==History==
Two of the [[Generals' Highway Stone Bridges|stone bridges]] on the highway are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>
  {{cite web
  | url = {{NRHP url|id=78000284}}
  | title = National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form
  | publisher = [[National Park Service]]
  | access-date = 2010-01-16 }}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==Major intersections==
{{CAinttop|county=Tulare}}
{{Jctint
|location_special=[[Sequoia National Park]]
|lspan=2
|mile=0.00
|road={{jct|state=CA|SR|198|dir1=west|city1=Visalia|city2=Hanford}}
|notes=Continuation beyond the Sequoia National Park southern boundary
}}
{{Jctplace
|type=toll
|mile=0.30
|place=Ash Mountain Entrance Station; park fee or pass required for entry<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/fees.htm|title=Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park Fees & Passes|work=National Park Service|access-date=December 31, 2021}}</ref>
}}
{{Jctint
|location_special=[[Kings Canyon National Park]]
|mile=32.5
|road={{jct|state=CA|SR|180|city1=Fresno|location2=Grant Grove Village|location3=[[Cedar Grove, Fresno County, California|Cedar Grove]]}}
|notes=
}}
{{jctbtm|keys=toll}}

==See also==
*{{portal-inline|California Roads}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Attached KML|display=inline,title}}
*{{Commons-inline}}
*{{HAER |survey=CA-140 |id=ca1791 |title=Generals Highway, Three Rivers, Tulare County, CA |photos=127 |color=3 |dwgs=10 |data=40 |cap=9}}

{{Sequoia National Park}}
{{Kings Canyon National Park}}

[[Category:Roads in Tulare County, California]]
[[Category:Giant Sequoia National Monument]]
[[Category:Kings Canyon National Park]]
[[Category:Sequoia National Park]]
[[Category:Sequoia National Forest]]
[[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in California]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Tulare County, California]]
[[Category:Named highways in California]]