John Muir Lodge

I stayed at the John Muir Lodge over the weekend for my very first time and it was a great experience! Corrine, the customer service representative was very kind, and very helpful. She clearly knows the area well, and was a very sweat lady to speak to. Her customer service was exceptional, and I’ll definitely be back because of it. Our maids were very nice too, I wish I had their names, they were working on the days we were there which was 01/​16/​2016 & 01/​17/​2016. I feel like they should get a lot of recognition and should not be forgotten. Overall, awesome experience for me, we did a lot of hiking and saw General Grant which a magnificent experience! I highly recommend staying here!

I guess you’ll appreciate this place based upon the expectations you bring into it. If you’re going to a big city and you book a room at the Comfort Inn I’m guessing you wouldn’t be disappointed those amenities aren’t as nice as a downtown Hyatt or Westin. It’s sort of like that with the John Muir Lodge. It’s not fancy accommodations… but it’s clean and nice enough. We thought everyone we met there was very warm and friendly as well. Very interested in teaching us about the area too. It’s worth mentioning that this is really the only place to stay for miles around, plus the simple fact that we’re on the park property and a quarter mile from the giant Sequoias is a huge plus all by itself! I see some complaining here about the food in the restaurant… maybe they got a new chef, but we were very pleasantly surprised. I thought each menu item had some creativity. The Eggs Benedict had a nice tomato hollandaise sauce and the pancakes were lemon mascarpone… both yummy! I’d go back here in a minute. If your expectations are in the right place you’ll love it.

I must say that we enjoyed our stay in Kings Canyon, but the John Muir Lodge wasn’t what we enjoyed.
Getting into the park itself was extremely difficult. We were in a single file line of traffic for over an hour before we reached the entrance kiosk. It seems like the park could have had more Rangers on hand to check people in and make this process a little quicker. I guess not.
Once we got to the lodge, there were two people at the desk, but only one person was helping guests check in. As a result, this also took quite a long time.
At first glance, our room seemed to be fine. It had a strange odor inside that I never did figure out. Not sure what that was. But, the room was clean. I tried to put a bottle of wine in the refrigerator, but it was unplugged and reeked of rotten food. Tried to plug it in, but this didn’t work. Not sure if it was the plug or the unit itself.
The rooms have apparently recently been redone. There was no art on the walls, but the room was pleasant looking. I am guessing that the mattress was new, which is normally a good thing, but in this case it was rock hard. Very uncomfortable and difficult to get a good nights rest.
In addition, the heating units in the rooms operate via hot water. That’s a little strange, but as long as it keeps you warm, I guess it’s OK. What was the problem is that when the unit is operating, it makes a crazy gurgling noise all night long. Again, that plus the mattress made it very difficult to rest.
But enough about the hotel. It was a nice walk every day down to the dining room, and we were always treated well there. Plus, the food was good!
The park itself is beautiful, with a variety of hiking in snowshoeing trails available and very close to the lodge.
We had friends go up the very next weekend and stayed in a cabin in one of the private communities in the park. I think that if we were to go again, I would look into this instead.

The JM Lodge is a nice place updated room, very family friendly. The lobby is under construction and the carpet is being replaced as well. Makes it difficult to gather around the fire place. Once it’s done in the next few days it should be great!

I’ve read most of the other reviews here and agree with most of them, both good and bad. It’s a nice place to sleep after a long day of hiking and site seeing. A little pricey, but hey your in the Sequoia National Park. You don’t go there to experience the lodge right? Would I stay there again. a comfortable place to stay and get something to eat. Yes I would

A pretty solid place to stay if you’re visiting King’s Canyon, I can’t say that it’s ⁵⁄₅ just because it is still pricey, but compared to the other accommodations, this place is pretty solid.
The lodge/​lobby area is also opened ²⁴⁄₇ and has the best wifi I’ve encountered on my weekend in the park, so that’s always a nice touch! There’s also a fireplace in the lobby and its quite spacious/​usually empty! Great place to get away from the outdoors when you’ve had a little too much on your weekend getaway: D

Very nice place to stay. I loved the fireplace in the lobby. The front desk was a few buildings away which was kinda weird but still a good place to stay.

Pretty good place to stay, nice central location inside kings canyon national park, but close to sequoia. Felt our rooms were a good size for the price and it had a nice little lobby area. Funny little thing though is that you need to check in down the way at the mini-​mart/​visitors center area.

We recently stayed at the lodge for 4 nights, right before Christmas. While the lodge rooms are on the smallish side, they had recently been renovated and were completely adequate. If you go here with the understanding that this is a lodge in a park, not a 5-​star hotel with plush accommodations and top-​tier services, you should be satisfied as well. No, there isn’t fine dining here, and the on-​site restaurant is mediocre at best. But we didn’t come here to spend all our time in the room or in the restaurant. We spent our time outdoors in nature and the lodge is situated in a beautiful setting. We would come here again.

This place is great for what it is – a lodge in the middle of a National Park. It is NOT a 4– or 5-​star hotel. So go in with the the appropriate expectations and you will not be disappointed. It is a WELCOME place for weary travelers who have been out hiking for miles and miles each day. Probably not so for frou-​frou folks who have never gotten dirt under their fingernails their entire lives. Beats the crap out of sleeping on the ground in the snow (which we had a lot of when we were there). Warm shower, super-​warm radiator, and comfy bed. Roaring fire to welcome you home each day. We thought the food was great. New chef had been there 2 weeks when we arrived and he got it right. Price was a little elevated, but when you consider the other options in terms of distance and driving times it was worth it to pay for the convenience of the location. Staff were very pleasant and helpful. If/​when we come back, we will stay here. PS: not sure how anyone can consciously visit a location in a National FOREST and expect it to be equivalent to a spot in Manhattan or Beverly Hills. Thank goodness you weren’t born during pioneer times. .. .

I wasn’t sure what to expect with all the negative reviews for this location. I know some Unilocalers have a propensity for hyperbole, so I wasn’t sure what to expect but was cautiously hopeful.
I went just after Labor Day 2014. Crowds were down so that was nice. It was also apparent they were renovating the lodge and it was mostly completed. The room I was in was one of them. It was nice. Nothing to get really excited about but nice. Like other Unilocalers have said, the pillows are ‘really’ firm’. If you’re a side sleeper most of the night you might be ok, if not, you may want to bring your own.
That said, if you have a room with ‘housekeeping doors’ (not sure if all do) that plenty of room noise travels under them. Since they are located directly across from the bathroom you can use your imagination as to what types of noises you’ll hear from under the door. We also had some noisy neighbor knuckleheads move in next door who carried on way way post the posted quiet hour. We called the front desk and they got them settled down so that was a good thing.
Like other people have commented on, the one and only restaurant to eat at nearby is a disaster. The food is barely edible and it’s dirty. Your better off bringing your own food or buying something at the local market — though I’d stay away from the market sandwiches — they’re not very good either. Your other option is to drive over to the Hume Lake Christian Camps and eat the buffet there. The food is good there but unfortunately a 20 to 30 minute drive each way.
The good things
1) After labor day it’s pretty quiet. Even down in the south end of the park it wasn’t busy.
2) Plenty of hiking trails around it.
3) Easy to get to via Hwy 180.
4) Central to most other park locations.
5) Other than the restaurant, it’s a good place to stay as long as you realize its a mountain lodge and not a 5 star hotel.
6) Free WiFi in the community room.
7) Room was very clean and housekeeping was very helpful.
One more thing about the rooms. There is no air conditioning. The lodge is over 7000′ above sea level, so it really didn’t get too hot during the day, but the room got a bit stuffy. Bringing a fan and opening the window really helped — especially at night when the temps were much cooler. Also, I paid $ 212 a night for a king bed. That price to me was pretty steep. I wouldn’t gripe if it was in the $ 150 to $ 180 range, but even with it being in the park, for what it was I think that it was steep.

We stayed in the hotel, not in a rustic cabin. The room with 2 queen beds was large and quiet and very comfortable, with a full bath. The building looked like it had been recently remodeled. Great towels (the best on our 5-​night trip) and the pillows were great. Only drawback is that it was expensive — $ 214 for 3 adults. But since there isn’t anything else around, what are you going to do?
There is only one restaurant at John Muir Lodge and there isn’t anything else within hours, but the food was reasonably priced and the food was generally good. No complaints, except the breakfast full buffet was too expensive ($ 12) and the continental was too expensive, too ($ 8). Burgers were less than $ 10 and most food during the day was $ 8-​$ 13.

We stayed in one of the rustic cabins with electricity. Weekday stay was $ 90. Clean and yes rustic. Bed was comfortable room worked for us. We had just came from 3 days in Vegas and needed some time to recuperate from neon and plastic. The kids crying till 9:30 did disturb the natural peace and ya the restaurant there needs a lot… a lot of help, but those trees and a little fire awesome. Leave your big expectations bring your own food and enjoy the trails and reconnect with nature.

We stayed here over the weekend. The location is very good, conveniently located right where the Generals Highway and Kings Canyon Scenic Byway meet and both parks are very accessible from here. The rooms are definitely on the rustic side. The furnishings were older and some stuff was stained, which didn’t really bother me too much. When we pulled back the bedding, there were a couple black things that looked like they might be dead bugs, so that was pretty gross. Fortunately we had another bed that was bug free. We didn’t get any bites so I don’t think they were bedbugs or anything. There’s a nice common room downstairs with a fireplace and free wifi (no wifi in the rooms) but unfortunately it was often filled with noisy kids and large groups of people seemingly having family reunions. There were official «quiet hours» from 9 pm to 8 am but people seemed to view the common room as a place where the quiet hours did not apply. This was pretty annoying since I had to work and needed the wifi and the common room was the only place I could get it. There’s a restaurant on site (Grant Grove Restaurant) that has decent food and terrible service; I wrote a separate review of it. The price ($ 180ish a night) is very high, especially for the rustic conditions, but you’re in a National Park so paying a premium is expected. I would imagine you could stay in a similar place outside of the park for about half price or less, but the money is worth it to me to avoid a long drive just to the park border, especially because there’s a lot of driving to do in the parks themselves.

Place is very decent for the cost. All the basic facilities were available in the room. I was not expecting a hair dryer in the lodge within a national park.
Best part was their lobby with Wifi and beautiful fire place .Me and my friends had great time in the lobby playing board games, relaxing, munching and chatting in the night.
Bottom line: Decently clean room with basic facilities in affordable cost.

Unless you want to hear the couples both above and alongside you being ‘romantic’, or kids screaming and running, you had better bring earplugs– thinnest walls I have ever experienced. Yuck. The room felt crowded (we had a King bed) as two people could not easily pass due to the poor layout of the room (let me guess– they saved money by not hiring an architect). The carpet and couch felt dirty. The bed was miserable — if you pushed your hand on it, you could feel the metal springs underneath. All this, for $ 170/​night off-​season! The lobby area with wi-​fi and fireplace was nice. The restaurant service was slow due to lack of staffing. Prices were high, as you’d expect when there are no other choices. Frankly, if you go in summer I would recommend camping– sleeping on the ground would be more comfy than the Lodge beds, it would be no noisier and the food would be better!
Our room was not advertised as handicap-​accessible (I assume they have ‘fully accessible’ rooms) although the bathroom area as you enter was somewhat accessible. There is a fold-​down bench in the shower, and a shower head that can be detached and hand-​held. You will need to be able to step into the tub, however. Once you are out of the bathroom area, you will not be able to navigate the room with a walker or wheelchair– the aisle between the end of the bed and the chest-​of-​drawers is too narrow.

What has happened to quality and accommodations? Is it just me or has America been bought and sold to someone with third world sensibilities?
I would rather have rented a motor home and gone to a campsite. The room was dirty with stains on both chairs, stains on the carpet and mold in & outside the bathtub. $ 174 in Feb. There was a pistachio shell in the heater. Hope it doesn’t catch on fire for the next guest. Room 129 if anyone is reading this.
The furniture was cool with bark on the wood used for the bedposts & chairs.
The food in the restaurant associated with the hotel was amateurish. It was $ 60.00 for 2 adults and a child without alcohol. The pulled pork was great. They served beans from a can with it and almost OK cole slaw. I asked for bread to go with it and they brought me rolls that tasted like they were out on the counter for a few days. My wife ordered a burger that she liked a lot but he fries with it were at least 30 minutes old. Mealy cold and dry. the caesar salad had a cheap bottled dressing with preservatives, but did have fresh shaved parmesan. The chili was hearty & satisfying, but came with tomatoes that were way overripe.

Microwave. They do have a microwave to use next to the check-​in area. This was important to me since I was traveling on a budget and I didn’t want to eat at the same restaurant for the three days, and two nights I was there. That said, the lodge is beautiful. I went during winter so it was pretty empty but the lobby was my favorite place because it felt so cozy. You could smell the firewood as you entered. The rooms were a decent size. There was a couch in mine but it looked pretty old and dirty. I didn’t use the couch so it wasn’t much of a problem. Wifi is available only in the lobby and this was 100% okay with me. It was a good snowy time. I would stay here again if I ever went back to Kings Canyon.

–Lodge: 4 stars — clean, comfy, need to ask for toiletries, got a new coffee maker, great service, very nice lobby, nice view, close to general grant tree.
–Restaurant is a 1 star! Super slow service, people left because of it, took 10 minutes to get waters. There is new ownership since November 2013, so the previous reviews differ. There were tables not cleared since lunch during dinner time!!! The clam chowder is horrible, the burger and rolls were good. It is fairly expensive, $ 15 burger.

We were in Oakhurst when we came to know that roads through Tioga pass and other highways were closed due to snow conditions. We had to cancel our reservation at another lodge and now with no place to spend one of our nights, drove hopelessly to Kings Canyon park to see if we can get a room to stay even though knowing we won’t find one at the last minute, that too on National Park week.
After having a nightmare checking out Snow line lodge (8 miles west of kings canyon park) went to reservations and asked if they have any availability. When the staff said yes it felt like heaven especially that being the National park week! (I know I’m repeating again but can’t stop stressing the fact on how fortunate it was for us) We got lucky as they had one room available in their lodge. We just took it regardless of the price ($ 140/​night) but hey its in the park and close to Grant general tree, hume lake and best of all Panoramic point =)
Rooms and bathrooms were clean, no TV, heater and plenty of utilities. The best part staying at this lodge was the opportunity to watch the sun rise without having to hike difficult trail or wake up hours to watch the sunset.
Food was awesome at the restaurant. We had dinner and breakfast over there. Very delicious and perfect portion. Loved walking around the cabin camp sites and sitting on wooden logs placed in between the sequoia tress. Great staff! We were very lucky to spend our time over at this place.