Swap the crowded Yosemite for this breathtaking California wilderness right next door: Calaveras Big Trees State Park. This park preserves two groves of giant sequoia trees, the world's largest trees.

Learn more about the 'no shortcut' rule before heading to California's Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks to avoid getting yourself into any trouble.

Sequoia National Park was created in 1890 to protect the mammoth trees for the public. Along with Kings Canyon National Park, the two parks are home to about 40% of all sequoias.