Sequoia Park to Open 102-Room Lodge

California’s Sequoia National Park, home to Mt. Whitney, opens a lodge May 28 that will be the biggest in either Sequoia or adjoining Kings Canyon National Park, officials said.

The 102-room Wuksachi Lodge includes a restaurant, lounge and shop. Rooms cost $110 to $155 until Oct. 12, when they drop to as low as $75. The $15-million Wuksachi replaces the Giant Forest Lodge, a collection of about 300 cabins and rooms six miles away that was the park’s sole lodging. The Giant Forest, saddled with an aging septic system and deemed to be damaging the sequoias that surround it, was shuttered in October 1998. The new lodge, although not set amid sequoias, offers “stunning views” from its 7,200-foot elevation, parks’ spokeswoman Kris Fister said. Reservations: telephone (888) 252-5757.

In addition, there’s a 30-room John Muir Lodge scheduled to open May 15 in the Grant Grove area of Kings Canyon National Park. Rooms at the $2.3-million facility are $125 to $210 per night. Reservations: tel. (559) 335-5500.