The Secret Water Slide in Sequoia National Forest (And How to Find It)
In the middle of Giant Sequoia National Monument there is a creek that pours over a long slab of granite and drops into a pool at the bottom. No entrance fee. No permit. No line. Just rock, cold water, and one of the best afternoons we have ever spent outside.
We went in August 2020 with my girls and my sisters, drove up from Southern California, and built a whole road trip around it. Left before sunrise, soaked in a hot spring first, spent the afternoon at the slides, and were home that night.
It was brutally hot that day. This was the perfect way to cool off.
The Perfect Day, In Order
There is a reason to do it in this order, and it is not just driving efficiency.
Sunrise, Remington Hot Springs. Soak while the canyon is still cold and the parking lot is still empty. A hot spring in the middle of an August afternoon is miserable. At 6am it is perfect.
Mid morning, the drive north. About 50 miles and an hour and a half up along the Kern River through Kernville toward Johnsondale. Get food and gas in Kernville, because there is nothing after that.
Midday to afternoon, the water slide. By now it is hot, and that is exactly the point. Cold granite and colder water is the best possible thing to be doing at 95 degrees.
Optional, Trail of 100 Giants. Right by the Parker Pass turnoff. Short, flat, shaded, and giant sequoias. An easy add on the way out.
Warm up in the morning, cool off in the afternoon. That is the whole trick.
How Far Is It, Really?
This sits in the southern Sierra Nevada, roughly the middle of California, and you approach it through the Central Valley from either direction. Which means it is about the same drive from either end of the state.
From Southern California: roughly 250 miles, about 5 hours. I-5 north over the Grapevine to Bakersfield, then Highway 99 to Porterville, then east up Highway 190.
From the Bay Area: about 5 hours as well. South through Modesto, Fresno, and Visalia, then east on 190.
The last 65 miles are the slow part either way. Highway 190 is all mountain switchbacks and the final stretch is forest road, so budget more time than the map gives you.
Start at Remington Hot Springs
If you are driving up anyway, do this first. It is on the way and it sets up the whole day.
Remington is a set of stone soaking tubs built by locals right on the edge of the Kern River, near Lake Isabella. Free, no permit, about a quarter mile down a steep trail from a dirt parking lot off Kern Canyon Road.
We got there around sunrise and had the whole place to ourselves. That was the magic of it.
It is much busier now. The lot fills fast, and if it is full there is essentially nowhere else to park. First light is still the move.
Worth knowing before you go: Remington is clothing optional by long standing local custom. Swimsuits are technically required on Forest Service land and rangers occasionally patrol, but expect a range of choices among other visitors. If that matters for your group, go early and know what you are walking into.
From Remington to the water slide is about 50 miles and roughly an hour and a half. Highway 178 to Lake Isabella, up through Kernville, then north on Mountain Highway 99 following the Kern River toward Johnsondale. Winding the whole way, but genuinely beautiful.
How to Get to the Water Slide
From the intersection of Western Divide Highway and Parker Pass Road, about 2.6 miles south of the Trail of 100 Giants, head east on Parker Pass Road.
After 6.5 miles, turn north onto Lloyd Meadow Road (Forest Route 22S82). Follow it 5.7 miles to a parking area on the right side of the road.
A dirt fire road, Route 22S90, leads uphill on your left. That is your trail.
You do not need AWD. We parked and walked up in a regular car with no trouble.
The Hike In
About three quarters of a mile up the fire road, so roughly a mile and a half round trip. Not long, but it is uphill and it felt steeper than the distance suggests in August heat.
As the road bends left, Alder Creek comes into view below on your right, pouring down a long stretch of exposed granite.
That is it. No sign, nothing confirming you have arrived. You just look down and see it.
Leave No Trace. There are no bathrooms, no trash cans, and no services out here. Everything you carry in comes back out with you, including food scraps and fruit peels. Do not stack rocks, do not carve anything, do not leave anything behind. This place is still good because the people who found it kept it that way.
What It Is Actually Like
The kids were obsessed. The adults were obsessed. On a day that hot, sliding down cold granite into a pool is about as good as it gets.
Bring inflatable tubes. This is the one thing I would tell anyone. Pack them deflated, pump them up at the creek, and you will get so much more out of the day.
People spend half a day here. Bring chairs, bring food, bring far more water than you think you need.
Before anyone gets in: water conditions change every season. Too little flow and the slide does not work. Too much and it becomes genuinely dangerous. Look at the water before anyone commits, and send an adult first with little ones.
The Seven Teacups
Standing up there you can catch a glimpse of something extraordinary downstream, and it is worth understanding what you are looking at.
Alder Creek joins Dry Meadow Creek just below the slides. From there the water drops into a series of seven polished granite bowls, each carved out over thousands of years, cascading down toward the Kern River. Canyoneers and kayakers travel from all over the world for it. It is considered one of the best entry level technical canyons in the country.
There is a small pool right at the top that you can sit in safely, and that is as far as we went. We were cautious the whole time, stayed a little while, took it in, and then left. There is nowhere to go from there anyway, not without gear and training.
But here is the part that matters.
The Seven Teacups is not a hike. It is rated a Class 3C technical canyon, meaning strong flowing water and intermediate skills required. You cannot walk through it. Descending requires multiple rappels, proper gear, and swiftwater canyoneering training.
People die there. Three hikers drowned in a whirlpool in August 2024. In early 2026 a man was trapped behind a waterfall for two days before rescuers reached him. The Kern River Conservancy has said the area generates frequent rescue calls, most often from people slipping on the steep, slick granite. There is also a Class V rapid on the Kern just downstream that has killed people who tried to float out.
Look, do not go lower. Sit in the little pool at the top if the water is calm, take your photos, and then turn around. The granite below gets very steep and very slick very quickly, and that is exactly where people get hurt. The family slides and the Seven Teacups are two different places on the same creek. If you actually want to run the canyon, get real training and go with people who know what they are doing.
Is It Worth It?
Yes. Even at five hours each way.
Hot springs at sunrise, the slides all afternoon, and the Trail of 100 Giants sitting right there if you want one more thing. That is a genuinely full day and it makes the drive feel deliberate instead of absurd.
It is free, it is stunning, and almost nobody knows it is there.
Please help keep it that way.
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