Hume Lake sits at 5,250 feet in the Giant Sequoia National Monument, in the Hume Lake Ranger District of the Sequoia National Forest, a few miles off the Generals Highway between Grant Grove and Cedar Grove. It covers 87 acres. The coves along the south and east shore are the usual swimming spots, with shallow sand and gravel entries and water that warms into the 70s by late July, which is unusual and welcome at this elevation. There are no lifeguards. Motorized boats are not allowed on the lake, so it stays quiet for swimming, paddling and fishing from a canoe or a float tube.

The dam at the west end is a piece of engineering history. Built in 1908 by the Hume-Bennett Lumber Company, it was the first multiple arch dam ever constructed, designed by John S. Eastwood, and it is a National Historic Civil Engineering landmark. The lake it created was a millpond for the logging operation, and from here cut lumber went down a 54 mile flume, the longest ever built, to the Central Valley at Sanger. The mill closed in 1917 and the Forest Service took over the site. You can walk out onto the dam and see the arches.

A shoreline trail loops most of the lake, about two and a half miles, flat and shaded by incense cedar and ponderosa pine with interpretive signs about the logging era. Hume Lake Campground, at the north end, has 74 sites under the big trees and is the closest camping to the water; reservations go through recreation.gov. The Hume Lake Ranger District office number is (559) 338-2251.

Most of the developed shoreline on the south side belongs to Hume Lake Christian Camps, a large private conference center that has been here since 1946. Their facilities, including the store and the snack bar, are generally open to the public, and for a lot of visitors that store is the only place to buy anything for many miles. The Forest Service day use areas and the trail are open to everyone; the camp's docks and waterfront equipment are not.

The location is the real draw. Grant Grove and the General Grant Tree are about ten miles west, Kings Canyon and the drive down into Cedar Grove along the South Fork of the Kings River start just north, and Boyden Cavern and Grizzly Falls are on that same road. The lake is the swimming stop that breaks up a national park trip, and on a hot August afternoon when the canyon floor is over 100 degrees it is where everybody goes. Snow closes the area in winter and the road in from the Generals Highway is not plowed.