I've been there more than a dozen times and I've never seen any.

I've hiked the Giant Forest for 34 years and have never seen a spider bigger than an ant.

Like said above you "might" see a tarantula at lower levels but highly unlikey.

I've never seen one.

Ive never seen a spider like that either. Don't worry.

I've been in the big trees numerous times over 40 years and never have seen a softball size spider. In fact, i've seen very few spiders of any kind.

As they said, nothing to worry about. The “softball size” spiders someone mentioned are probably some species of tarantula, a large spider. I think your chances of seeing one in Sequoia National Park are small. Tarantaulas are shy and docile and do not attack. A few people even keep tarantualas as pets. In the unlikely case that someone is bitten by one it’s mild, like a bee sting. But you are not likely to encounter one and even if you did they are easy to see and avoid. They may exist in Sequoia National Park, in fact this photo was taken in the park: http://bugguide.net/node/view/535113/bgimage

In the foothills and other lower-elevation areas of the park, rattlesnakes are sometimes seen, but again they are easy to avoid in the chance that you did see one. You probably won’t be in the foothills, you will be in the medium elevation areas of the park. Poison oak is another hazard in the foothills and lower elevations, though you probably won’t be walking around in those areas of the park, it would be good for you to learn how to identify the plant so as to avoid brushing against it. http://www.knoledge.org/oak/identify.html

Your visit will probably not include sightings of any of the above. Hopefully you will get to see a bear, as sightings of them seem to be pretty common, at least going by trip reports on this forum.

I agree with all of the above. I've worked for Sequoia since 2004 and have honestly never seen a tarantula in the park. I am scared to death of spiders myself, so trust me you have nothing to worry about :)

There's no indication of the elevation of where that spider was seen (we saw ours near Hospital Rock). I'm still of the view that these spiders are no where near the big trees (the one in the picture is sitting on some granite...)

I suppose one piece of advice might be to avoid areas like Beetle Rock where there are definitely more bugs.

And rattlesnakes, while not the OP's concern, can appear at higher elevations when it's warm (but so rare as to be a topic of conversation for years to come - we've seen exactly one in 50 years in the upper part of the park).

This is a good time to remind people that the park is very large and the entry kiosk is at the lower elevation. There's no need to spend time in the lower elevations really, just go up top and enjoy your tarantula-free vacation!

I can't thank everyone enough for your advice and encouragement! I was determined to try to make it anyway, but will certainly rest easier in the days leading up to my trip thanks to all of you. Once our journey gets closer (July 2013!) I'll probably be posting other (non-arachnid) questions, but for now, my biggest concern has been put to rest. Many, many thanks!

Gretchen, I was just up to the Seqouia's end of September. We saw deer, bears, birds, chipmunks, fish, marmott but NO spiders. Too cold for them this time of year. The male Tarantulas do a march in the fall before it gets too cold to seek out a mate. But I never saw one spider or Tarantula.

You really need to go on your trip. It is so beautiful.