Congress established Sequoia National Park, covering 387,000 acres, in 1890 as the second national park, after Yosemite National Park established 18 years earlier. Its best-known purpose is the preservation of the Sequoias.
The park is on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in Central California. The difference in altitude from the lowest point in the park to the highest mountain peak -- Mount Whitney -- is more than two miles. The park is administered by the National Parks Service jointly with Kings Canyon National Park, which adjoins it on the north.
