The isolated southern section of Sequoia National Park is reached only by a partially paved road (Mineral King Road, open summer only) which branches off Hwy-198 from Visalia. Although only 46 km long, the condition of the road means the journey is likely to take a couple of hours.

At Mineral King, the road terminates in a pristine mountain landscape, 7,500 feet high and with the rugged Sierra Nevada peaks seemingly close enough to touch. In fact, they can only be reached by undertaking lengthy backcountry trails.

Fortunately, perhaps, two plans for developing Mineral King came to nothing. The first was thought up by over-optimistic silver prospectors in the 1870s. The second came from the Disney Corporation in the 1960s, who schemed to turn the area into a gigantic ski resort.