The main geographical feature of the park is Kings Canyon, a 4000 feet (1.2 km) deep canyon carved by glaciers and the Kings River out of granite. Visitors can drive part of the way to through Kings Canyon. The road stops just past Cedar Grove where there is a large flat granite rock, known as Muir Rock as John Muir occasionally gave talks on that rock in the early days of the Sierra Club outings to Kings Canyon (1901 to 1908?), that juts into the Kings River.
Cloud Canyon, in the park's backcountry
Kings Canyon's future was in doubt for nearly fifty years. Some wanted to build a dam at the western end of the valley while others wanted to preserve it as a park. The debate was settled in 1965 when the valley, along with Tehipite Valley, was added to the already existing Grant Grove National Park.
The other major attraction is the park's Giant Sequoia groves. The park includes the Redwood Mountain Grove, which covers 3100 acres (13 km²) and has 15,800 sequoia trees over one foot (0.30 m) in diameter at their bases. This is the largest sequoia grove remaining in the world.
The park is also home to Grant Grove, which includes General Grant tree among other sequoias. That grove is connected by the park's Generals Highway to another sequoia grove, Giant Forest, which is in Sequoia National Park.
The park's eastern boundary follows the Sierra crest, from the Mount Goethe in the north, down to Junction Peak, at the boundary with Sequoia National Park. Several well-travelled passes cross the crest into the park, including Bishop Pass, Taboose Pass, Sawmill Pass, and Kearsarge Pass. All of these passes are above 11,000 feet (3400 m) elevation.
Most of the area of the park is backcountrywilderness, which is only accessible on foot or on horseback. The Sierra crest in the park reaches an elevation of 14,000 feet (4,300 m).
