Camp Four And Half Cabin

The cabin called Camp Four and a Half stands on the south side of the Kings River at 1,100 feet, in Sequoia National Forest and within the Giant Sequoia National Monument, about 60 miles east of Fresno. It is a two-bedroom, one-bath house kept by the Hume Lake Ranger District and rented by the night. A combination lock holds the door. Renters get the numbers by telephone from the Hume Lake Ranger Station five days ahead. The Forest Service page, last updated August 4, 2026, lists the site as closed for repairs.

Inside, a generator supplies the electricity, and a heater and swamp cooler handle the weather. The kitchen holds a propane stove and refrigerator, a table and benches, and dishes, pots and pans. There are beds for six: two twins, a queen, and a double hide-a-bed, all with pillows. The bathroom has a tub and shower combination. The Forest Service and Recreation.gov list a couch and a rocking chair in the living area and five lawn chairs outdoors. The Sierra Nevada Geotourism entry lists a reclining chair and six lawn chairs. Outside there are also a grill, a picnic table, and room for tents, which the Geotourism entry says raises the limit to 12 people. Guests bring their own linens, towels, and all food. The Geotourism entry adds salt and pepper to that list and gives stays of up to 14 days, year round.

The road up Trimmer Springs

The way in begins in Fresno at Belmont and Academy avenues. Belmont runs east and becomes Trimmer Springs Road. The Geotourism entry tells drivers to zero the trip odometer at that corner and allow about an hour and a half. It gives the checkpoints in order:

• Piedra at about 13 miles, the last place for supplies and gas, its store open only by day.
• Trimmer at mile 25.6, with a payphone.
• The Big Creek Bridge at mile 33.3.

After that the Kings River Power Station passes on the right, brightly lit at night. At mile 42.0 comes Kirch Flat Campground, and just past it the Kings River Bridge. The bridge carries the road to the south side of the river as Forest Service Road 12S01. The pavement lasts about a mile. Where it turns to dirt, a one-lane Bailey Bridge crosses back over the water. Drivers are told not to take it and to keep to the south bank. The last seven-tenths of a mile is dirt, passable by a sedan.

The lower Kings

The cabin sits on the lower portion of the Kings River, above Pine Flat Reservoir. The river is classified Wild and Scenic. Recreation.gov places it within the Kings River Gorge, which it calls one of the deepest canyons in the United States. The Forest Service describes the year by season. In fall and winter the cabin is above the Central Valley fog. In spring it is “ablaze with wildflowers and wildlife.” In summer it is hot and dry, with the river running close.

Spring high water brings whitewater boaters. Recreation.gov warns that the river is swift and cold and can be dangerous at peak flows from April through June. It turns tranquil in late summer and fall. Guests fish, swim, kayak, and raft. From Garnet Dike down to Pine Flat Lake the river is open to fishing year round, with a two-fish limit and a California license. The Geotourism entry counts this reach as part of the wild trout fishery on the Kings.

Trails run along both the north and south banks for hiking and horseback riding, and roads serve off-road vehicles. Nearby are Pine Flat Dam, the Bear Wallow and Granite Dike trailheads, and the Kings River National Recreation Trail. Recreation.gov notes that the cabin is not close to either national park or to any of the monument’s giant sequoia groves. It also lies far from the lights of any city or town. This is bear country, and food must be stored properly.

A ranger’s house, 1957

The cabin was built in 1957. Until the early 1980s, various Forest Service rangers and their families lived in it and kept their office there. Volunteers and Forest Service employees later restored it and opened it to the public as an overnight rental. The pages give no year for that work. The Geotourism entry calls the building a completely renovated 1950s Lincoln Log Cabin, restored “to reflect the past.” The entry also says it has been modified with many accessible features, though some may not be fully accessible.

The renters now do the housekeeping the families once did. A vacuum and cleaning supplies stay in the house, and there is no garbage service. The Geotourism entry lists the duties for departure: floors vacuumed and mopped, bathroom and kitchen cleaned, furniture dusted, windows locked, blinds closed, all food removed, garbage hauled home. The generator must be turned off and the thermostat set at the lowest temperature.