Kings Canyon National Park: Hiking Tales of Paradise Valley

After two wonderful camping nights at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, we were looking forward to our last hike before heading back home. I chose one that would allow us to escape the most popular parts of the park for day hikes and venture a little further into the wilderness. The Paradise Valley Trail is by no means an unknown destination, yet it felt more remote, as the trail starts at the end of the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway, with no road leading further into this part of the park. We arrived pretty early and found parking without a problem, although the parking lot was already quite full, suggesting that many cars had been there overnight due to this trail's popularity for backpacking. We didn’t plan to hike the entire trail, but just until the Mist Falls, which I had read was already a very picturesque part of the trail. Something that had not escaped my attention in the most recent trail reviews was that many hikers reported seeing bears or rattlesnakes. I wasn't quite sure yet whether this was an argument for or against the hike. In any case, I was interested in seeing these animals generally, yet I felt a tad queasy.

We set off in the cool morning air and the hike began beautifully in a forested area, where large, open sandy ‘meadows’ made the greenery of the trees stand out against the beige ground. This is my favorite type of scenery. I love how the openness of the landscape evokes a sense of freedom, while the large trees exude calm and vivacity for me.

We left the open space and entered a more densely wooded area along the water. Here, it seemed like almost the entire trail was covered in the shade.

But there was something that stood out.

Long green sticks, interrupted only by some appealingly golden and darker rings, rose from the ground along the trail. The sun was shining brightly from a rather low angle, and it appeared as though these plants had reserved the sun's rays for themselves. They were illuminated, as if they were plugged into their own power source, while most of their surroundings remained in the dark. It was fascinating!

Since so much already endeared me to this hike, I could almost ignore the fact that mosquitoes started to feast on us. While they were pretty much absent in the drier parts at the beginning, we had now entered their habitat near the water. I'm not exaggerating when I say that they were so persistent that we couldn't stop or talk without having thousands of these little bloodsuckers in our faces or mouths. Doubt started to creep into my head about whether having lunch at the waterfall, our turnaround point, would be a great idea.

The scenery remained beautiful and varied. The trail led us from the shaded area back into the open, across a very smooth granite rock surface with a fantastic view of the surrounding mountains. It then led us back along the river that gushed out of the waterfall.

Once we reached the waterfall, we began eating our lunch while listening to the rushing water. The mosquitoes were still bothersome, but surprisingly less so than in some parts of the trail that were further away from the river. Perhaps they were already fully fed by the other hikers who chose to have their food at the waterfall as well.

Taken off the trail: Only a short scramble away from the waterfall.

I decided that this was a good time to switch my zoom lens for wide-angle to capture the scenery with my camera on the way back, as the trail started to become more crowded and I believed that animal sightings were less likely now than on the way in.

Well, I would regret that thinking later.

I was both disappointed and relieved at the same time. While I absolutely wanted to see a bear from a safe distance, I felt anxious about encountering one up close too. I told myself that the latter was unlikely, especially since bears, like pretty much all animals — if not accustomed to humans or human food — avoid contact with humans. While I was still contemplating this, I felt certain that one of the most unlikely events to occur now would be encountering a bear, especially since the quieter, early morning hours were over and the trail started to become more crowded with hikers and backpackers.

Still, the trail was, in particular for the diversity and the beauty that it offered, rather lightly or at best modaretly travelled. It was a stunning hike either way. While I was still thinking of wanting or not wanting to see a bear, I suddenly heard a big cracking sound to my side. What was that? This sounded like someone or something broke a bunch of thicker branches and I immedetly knew that it was impossible that a squirrel, a mouse or even a coyote could have caused this. The trail was rather narrow at this point, so my husband was walking slightly ahead of me. To my left side, there were thick bushes that were hiding the river down in the valley below us. The sound was so close that it must have come from these bushes!

I turned my head to the left and all I could see was fur in the midst of greenery, A LOT of brown fur.

Didn’t I just come to the conclusion that I didn’t need to worry about encountering a bear up close, or even at all? Well, sometimes it seems like letting go of something attracts exactly what you’re letting go of. A rush of adrenaline went through the top of my head to my toes. There was a very controlled respect for what was making its way an arm length away from me to exactly where I was hiking. I decided to act like this wasn’t a big deal except for the fact that I screamed towards my husband that there was a bear RIGHT NEXT TO ME.

While getting excited inside, I did continue hiking in a normal speed to move away from the bear while trying not to seem like an escaping lunch meal on foot. Once I believed that we had gained a safe distance, I turned around and stopped to observe what was happening. (Note: It would probably have been better to walk backward rather than continue walking forward with my back to the bear. However, I was so surprised that my initial impulse was to act as if nothing had happened, in an attempt to avoid drawing more attention to our presence.) The bear had already found its way on the trail, crossing the path where we were hiking just a few seconds ago. It luckily seemed very unimpressed and uninterested in us and appeared to even not have noticed that we are there at all. We observed the bear from the distance as it made its way up on the gentle, rocky slope. And then it turned around, but not towards us, but in the direction of the bushes where it came out of. We realized that it was in fact a she and she wasn't alone! Small paws made its way on the trail too. A shy, little cub tapped out of the bushes. It really caught us by surpise and we were so excited to see this happening! And the little guy wasn’t alone, it seemed to have a twin sibling that follwed it. In contrast to their mother, the two shortly moved their head in our direction, but appeared to instantly decide that those two creatures on two legs seemed too scary and quickly made their way to their mother, that was patiently waiting for them.

This all happened in a time span of very few minutes, but they will always be in my memory as this was just such a special moment. To be fully honest though, I’m still a little sad about the fact that I switched the lenses. But at least, we have an okay zoomed-in and cropped smartphone photo that captured this moment visually too.

Mama bear is waiting patiently for her cubs to follow. Note that this picture is highly cropped to make the bears stand out more, so we were much farther away from the bears than this picture might suggest.

I already loved this hike before we saw the bears, but this made it even more special.

The rest of the way back, we were just full of excitement, fully awake, and aware—like after taking an ice bath, running a marathon, and then taking another ice bath (not that I had ever done any of these—but I believe that must be the feeling afterward). I also had to think about what could have happened if the mother bear had already crossed the trail and the cubs would still have hidden in the bushes when we passed them. I like to think, though, that the bear had it all planned out beforehand. We were definitely not quiet as mice, so they must have heard us and probably just waited patiently until we were gone.

In a Nutshell: Bears in California

• California is home to black bears, which can vary in color and may include brown variations, including even cinnamon or blond shades — so brown black bears are black bears too! They are smaller than brown bears (such as grizzlies), are generally less aggressive and lack the distinctive hump seen in grizzlies.

• The grizzly, California's state animal, in fact became extinct in California in the 1920s due to habitat loss and hunting.

• Here are some of the most important questions regarding bear encounters:

  • How should I behave if the bear seems to have noticed me and shows ‘interest’ (or even starts to approach)?

    Make yourself big and make noise (scream). Back away slowly and do not run. If you’re in a group, stay together to appear bigger. Don’t throw food or anything, as that might lead to this bear losing its fear of humans and becoming accustomed to human food.

  • So what should I do in the rare event of a black bear attack?

    The national park service recommends the following: If a black bear attacks, fight back by attacking the bear’s face! Conversely, playing dead is recommended for grizzly bear encounters (which are extinct in California), but fight back if that does not help.

  • Is carrying bear spray a good idea for protection?

    Bear spray is legal in California, yet prohibited in Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks. It can be debated whether this is a good idea. I believe that the reasoning behind this is that black bears are usually not a threat to humans if not accustomed to them, plus there haven’t been any fatalities in California’s national parks. Therefore, if many people carry bear spray, and if only a fraction use it the wrong way, this may quickly become a threat to the bears—and probably to the people themselves who carry it or fellow hikers—while not providing a statistically backed benefit.

    Here are some statistcs about bear-inflicted human injuries (in Yellowstone as this was available, concerning the more aggressive grizzy), that find the chance of being attacked by a grizzly is 1 in 2.7 million visits and 8 people died since the park opened in 1872. In fact, there has been only one fatal wild bear attack recorded in California’s history, which happened very recently in 2023.

• Find more information on bear safety here.

On our way back, our animal sightings were further extended by a snake on the trail and numerous grey squirrels climbing trees.

It was just after 12 am when we returned to the parking lot, yet it felt like a much longer adventure. I always find it incredible how such memory-dense experiences in nature, where you really feel connected to your surroundings, can feel like days have passed, simply because all your senses are so immersed in different sensations.

This day will definitely stick in my memory, and every time I think back to this hike, I feel happy. Just recalling it, I can almost smell the warm, sandy dirt beneath me, easily feeling the surprise and excitement when I was caught off guard by seeing the bears.

Paradise Valley Trail: Trail Info

📍 Distance: 7.8 mi (12.6 km)

⛰ Elevation Gain: 875 ft (266.7 m)

🔙 Route Type: Out & Back

🔗 AllTrails Map & Reviews

🏕 Backpacking: This area is also very popular for backpacking. If you’re interested in doing an overnight trip deeper into the wilderness, check out how to get a permit here.

⚠️ Trail Conditions: Check current conditions on the NPS website before heading out.

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