Moro Rock Stairway
Sequoia National Park · Giant Forest · near Three Rivers · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Via Ferrata
At a glance
- Route type
- ladder-stair
- Cost
- fee
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Best season
- Late spring–fall; the stairway ices over and closes in winter; sunset is magic
What is here
- Amenities
- Free park shuttle on summer weekends · Giant Forest sequoias minutes away · Interpretive summit panorama · Crescent Meadow road pairing
- Best for
- Maximum summit-per-effort in the Sierra
- Features
- Historic 1931 CCC stonework — on the National Register · Great Western Divide skyline · 400 steps of granite-carved exposure · One of the best sunset perches in any park
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Lightning magnet — get off immediately if storms build · Ice/snow closes the stairway in winter · Railings are historic, not continuous — hold kids' hands · Summit ridge is narrow with big drops both sides
- Family friendly
- Yes
Via Ferrata detail
- Nickname
- The 1931 granite staircase
- Hardware
- stairs
- Exposure
- 3
- Iron notes
- A 400-step, 797-foot stairway blasted and hand-built into a granite dome by the CCC in 1931 — railings, carved steps and airy ledges climbing 300 feet to a 6,725-ft summit ridge over the Great Western Divide
- Logistics note
- Sequoia NP entrance fee ($35/vehicle); ~0.5 mi round trip, ~300 ft of stairs; summer weekends may require the free Giant Forest shuttle to the trailhead
- No lottery
- Yes
- Intl tip
- A hand-built 1931 stone stairway up a granite dome in Sequoia National Park — 400 steps, railings and real exposure, a huge Sierra panorama for a half-mile round trip. Park entrance $35/vehicle; use the free shuttle on summer weekends; avoid in thunderstorms and winter ice. Combine with the giant sequoias five minutes away.
The guide
Moro Rock is what happens when 1930s trail engineering meets a bald granite dome: a 400-step, 797-foot stairway, blasted, carve…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Moro Rock Stairway — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 36.5461, -118.7654