If you want to stay in King's Canyon, and camping is not for you, Cedar Grove Lodge is the only option. The next closest lodging is the Muir Lodge, about an hour or more away.

The lodge is generally dated and shabby. A hotel in this fabulous location should have a great view from every room, but our room had one window with a view of the underside of the roof.
We had an upstairs room. It was reasonably clean. The towels were brand new and fluffy. The mattresses looked new as well. The bed was comfortable. There is no tv, no coffee maker, no hair dryer and no fridge in the room. There is a small table, so bring a deck of cards and board games. There is an air conditioner, which was appreciated since it was 100* when we were there. Also the fan in the AC unit will drown out the noise so you can sleep. The walls are thin, and the neighbors noise was very loud.
I saw one large cockroach in the bathroom. No bedbugs, yes I checked.

The fan in the bathroom was loud enough to wake the dead. The shower was way too small, and i'm a small person. I hit my elbow on the water knob, as there was not enough room in there to move your arms. No water pressure, hard to wash your hair or rinse off soap. There is no tub.

The restaurant serves hot dogs and burgers, sandwiches, and for dinner there is chicken, steak and trout. They were out of veggie burgers, the only other option for vegetarians was spaghetti. It tasted horrible, and was way overpriced. There is no way to cook in the room, so your choices are limited. There is a small store with snacks, fruit, ice cream bars, and pre-packaged sandwiches.

This was my second time staying here, & after thinking about it, my advice is unless you're using this spot as a trail-head to go hiking into the Sierras, I'd suggest other accommodations. Cedar Grove is at the end of the highway heading east into Kings Canyon. The lodge here is the only place to stay unless you're camping. Although the price to stay here is a bit less than staying in Yosemite, it's still overpriced for the quality. You're paying for the location, and that's it. The rooms are not very big, the bath is especially small & the shower smaller still. A large framed person of 250 pds or more could feel downright claustrophobic. The bed isn't particularly comfortable. Be advised there is only one place to get something to eat & that is the small cafe in the lodge. It has a limited menu with higher than average prices for lower than average quality of food. Oh yea, once it closes, that's it. No food, no ice. (Ice for your room is provided at the cafe, so make sure you have all you want before it closes). There is also a market next to the cafe which also serves as the check-in office. Be advised they close early during the spring and fall (7pm) but they are open til 9pm during the summer months, be sure to check the hours for your trip, as you don't want to arrive after closing. There will be nowhere to go and now place to get anything to eat. Once the sun sets there is really nothing to do. Unless it's during the dead of summer it will likely be too cold to sit outside for very long. There is no TV. Bring something to entertain yourself.

When I first reviewed this place in '06, I recommended it because it was in such beautiful surroundings. And, it certainly is. The river as you drive down is gorgeous. The canyon is beautiful, and the scenery driving down is breathtaking. But I discovered something else I didn't realize before. Look at the map of Hwy 180 from Grant Grove to Cedar Grove. The most spectacular scenery is located in Sequoia National Monument during the mid 1/3 of the drive to Cedar Grove, between Hume Lake and Boyden Cavern. If you're just looking for great scenery I'd suggest driving down to Boyden Cavern, turning around & stay elsewhere overnight, where there is more activity & television. Perhaps in Grant Grove. But make no mistake, you really need to take the drive to see the part of the highway I mentioned. It won't take that long & I guarantee you won't be sorry you took the time.

This was our second stay at Cedar Grove. We really enjoy King's Canyon because of the hiking and fishing as well as spectacular scenery. However, there was some confusion with the reservations since the Lodge didn't open on 5/15 as advertised, so we had to spend an extra night at John Muir Lodge in Grant's Grove. Still, Katie at the check-in was wonderful about getting us for Friday and Saturday. The concessionaire office was restricting the number of guests since it was the first weekend, the restaurant wasn't open and they had had the mixup about opening day, but she prevailed. Great customer service!! The rest of the staff was friendly as well.

Still, we agree with the other comments concerning the concessionaire and lack of effort put into maintaining the property and, in some cases, training the cleaning staff. We seen and read comments about other parks that are similar. We wish the Park service had a better way of evaluating the concessionaires since, in general, customers feel that they are overcharged for the accommodations. It doesn't seem as though the Park service has the time or energy to oversee the concessionaires which is a shame considering that the concessionaires are monopolies and no competition to stimulate some improvements.

Still, we'll be back since we love the national parks both for all the activities they offer and for their beauty. They really are a treasure for our country. The people who work in the parks, both NPS and the concessionaire employees, are usually quite helpful as well. Now, if only the buildings and furnishings were less shabby and overpriced!

We stayed two nights in a cabin lodge room at Cedar Grove Lodge.
The good: great location, within 100 feet of the King's river near the end of Kings Canyon. Spacious rooms, with room for two queen size beds, clean bathroom with mirror and shower stall. Clean towels, soap and shampoo provided daily. Rooms come with dresser, desk and small table. No closet to hang clothes. Cafe on the second floor.

The bad: no noise insulation between the sheet rock walls. You can hear the neighbors talking and their beds sweeking during nighttime activity next door at all hours. The room reverberates with noise from the bathroom vent fans, which turn on automatically with the lights. I was awakened by my neighbors fan running from 258am to 311am this morning. There is a half inch gap between the door and the floor, letting in corridor noise of passing people.

More bad: shower stall a tight fit for elbow room. The low flow sprinkler showers cannot be manually adjusted for a decent flow. No coffee maker, no hot water, no microwave, no iron board, no fire sprinkler system -the lodge was apparently built in the 1950s, with only one small sliding window per room, making the interior very dark. No TV and no swimming pool.

The second floor cafe is overpriced and the quality of food is at best ordinary. Hours are extremely limited, with dinner from 5-7pm. Only five entrees for dinner. I tried the grilled chicken breast at $13. It was roughly 6 ounces, and tasted like it was from the frozen section of Costco. Meat and fish portions are tiny. Breakfast pancakes and french toast portions are very large. The "Canyon Burger" is the most ordered item, for a 4 ounce beef paddy, with lettuce, pickle, onion and tomatoe. Very small for a $6 burger.

The Cedar Grove cafe is way below the Grant Grove restaurant, which is way below the Wuksachi restaurant.

Come to the lodge expecting noise from neighboring rooms and limited food menu choices of mediocre quality.


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