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All the United States California Three Rivers Moro Rock
AO Edited

Moro Rock

Four hundred granite steps were built into this massive rock by the National Park Service.

Three Rivers, California

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mtodd51
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The Top - Moro Rock at Sequoia National Park   Aaron Fulkerson on Flickr
Granite Steps at Moro Rock, Sequoia National Park   Linda Tanner on Flickr
Sierra Nevada Mountains from Moro Rock   John Buie on Flickr
Generals Highway Dedication, September 5, 1925 - Sequoia National Park   Prints and Photographs Division on Library of Congress
Sequoia National Park, Generals Highway - first car to enter the Park   History American Landscape Survey on Library of Congress
Perigrine falcon populations are on the upswing at Moro Rock and other preserved habitat   Valerie on Flickr
Sequoia National Park, September1957 - Granite dome of Moro Rock   Matson Registers on Library of Congress
  breaingram / Atlas Obscura User
Moro Rock, 7/2019   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Jutting out from the top of Sequoia National Park is a granite dome called Moro Rock, named for the roan-colored mustang of one “Mr. Swanson” from nearby Three Rivers, who, in the 1860s inadvertently gave the startling rock formation its name.

Mr. Swanson, so it’s told, had a little mustang named Moro, which in the Western parlance of the time meant a bluish-colored horse. His little Moro was known to scramble up, around and under the rock ledges of the great dome, and so it became known as Moro’s Rock – Moro Rock today.

Offering 360-degree views of Sequoia National Park from the top, you have to take a few steps to get there – 400 steps in fact. That’s 797 feet of stairs, or about a 30-story building. Taking that quarter-mile stair-hike is a testament not only to the beauty of the landscape, but also to the legacy of the National Park Service – though it has often been wrongly attributed to the Civilian Conservation Corps – which built those stairs during the great expansion of the National Park Service systems in the 1930s. There had been a wooden stair case up the side of the Rock, built in 1917, but they were rickety at best and dangerous at worst for the growing number of National Park visitors. A more permanent – and less vertigo-inducing – solution was needed, and the back-breaking labor to cut, carve, pour and secure a permanent set of stairs came in the form of workers from the National Park Service.

Designed to follow the natural crags and crevices of the granite, the Moro Rock stairs provide a way to the top that protects the Rock itself (its rock faces being vulnerable to exfoliation, so most climbing is prohibited), and also preserves the nesting areas of the local Peregrine falcon population. So keep to the stairs – the rock and the falcons need each other.

Related Tags

Rocks Nature Rock Formations Stairs Geology

Know Before You Go

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are located approximately halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The parks are about a 5 to 6 hour drive from either direction. The parks are approximately one and a half hours from Fresno, CA. (from www.sequoia-kingscanyon.com/directions)

Community Contributors

Added By

mtodd51

Edited By

RHyzer, IJVin, Mariana Zapata, kostas1964ath...

  • RHyzer
  • IJVin
  • Mariana Zapata
  • kostas1964ath
  • breaingram
  • Keri Kilgo

Published

November 6, 2015

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Sources
  • http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/dilsaver-tweed/chap6a.htm
  • http://www.tularecountytreasures.org/moro-rock-stairway.html
  • http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/upload/Text_Side_SEKI12139F01_updated.pdf
  • http://www.sequoia-kingscanyon.com
  • https://books.google.com/books/about/California_Place_Names.html?id=Kqwt5RlMVBoC
  • http://www.visitsequoia.com/hiking-trails.aspx
  • http://www.nps.gov/index.htm
Moro Rock
Moro Rock Trailhead
47050 Generals Highway
Three Rivers, California, 93262
United States
36.544173, -118.765214
Visit Website
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