Kern County’s towns and cities offer the Rv’er many fabulous opportunities to experience a diversity of culture and natural history from desert to mountains, rivers and valleys.  The diversity of Kern County is astounding,  simply amazing!

 Taft, California  is nestled in the foothills at the extreme southwestern edge of the San Joaquin Valley, just 35 minutes from Bakersfield, two hours from Los Angeles, and two hours from California's Central Coast. The Taft area is home to 18,000 residents and numerous companies who enjoy friendly neighbors, temperate climates and a bustling economy.   Taft’s pioneers came to the semiarid region on horseback and in buckboard wagons looking for gold – black gold!   In 1910 the famous Lakeview Gusher blew in.  Oil spewed from the hole for more than 18 months, producing an estimated nine million barrels.  Taft lies in the heart of two of the country’s most productive oil fields.  In Taft, you’ll find opportunities to skydive, fish, boat, golf, and visit the area museums.  Here you’ll find a number of past movie locations such as “The Attack of the Forty Foot Woman, with actress Darryl Hannah.”  The location of Taft makes the city a great place to park the RV in a hotel parking lot and enjoy the indoor amenities of the lodge or hotel.

Bakersfield is the metropolitan with California’s biggest attractions and access to outdoor recreation.  In Bakersfield you’ll feel like you’re at home.  Bakersfield history began two million years ago with water covering the area.  Species of sharks, whales, turtles, and other sea life can be found in this geological treasure trove.  Remnants of the past are continually unearthed on Sharktooth Hill  which is the world’s most fossil-rich marine bone bed.  Geologists have uncovered the remains of 138 fossilized species of birds, fish, and marine mammals.  The Kern County Museum is another of the treasures you’ll find while discovering Kern County.  Artists, art collectors, and those who just enjoy seeing works of the local artisans will enjoy exploring the many art galleries in the Bakersfield area.  Be prepared to spend several days here on self-guided tours.  Bakersfield is also the place to study architecture from classic art deco to modern hi-tech. 

In Ridgecrest, discover the attitudes of the Mojave Desert.  Respect the desert and she will respect you!  Desert wildlife coexists with the technology of space travel, recreational vehicles, and the feet of many hikers.   While visiting the Mojave Desert, find the three natural wonders:  Fossil Falls, the Trona Pinnacles, and Red Rock Canyon State Park.  You’ll also want to see William Henry Schmidt’s tunnel – a colossal 2000 foot tunnel through solid rock which terminates at an opening half way up the side of a mountain.  Call 760-375-6900 for directions to the site.  Besides natural wonders, there are some ghost towns to visit and photograph.  Relics of the area’s bustling mining days can be found along the mining areas of Johannesburg, Red Mountain and Randsburg.  Finally, for those who love speed, the B-1 bomber is an intimidating sight.  The dry lake beds of the Mojave Desert provide excellent areas for safety testing of this magnificent aircraft.  Pilots can average 345 days of flying during the year due to the hot, dry weather.  A special tour of NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center can be set up by calling 661-258-3446.

In Kern County, you’ll find ten top crops which are grown, harvested, and sold to visitors such as:  Thompson’s seedless grapes (some vines are 100 plus years old dating back to Spanish missionaries in the 18th century), almonds, citrus (60,000 acres of commercial citrus devoted to the navel orange), carrots (baby carrots which are fully grown but cut and processed to give them the unique “baby” carrot shape), milk (Holstein country- can you say “happy cows”), cotton, hay/alfalfa, nursery plants including Christmas trees – fruit and nut trees – herbaceous plants – ornamental trees and shrubs – roses and turf, potatoes, and of course cattle. 

Tehachapi is known for the giant wind generators on the hillsides, and a place for avid wind sailors.  Sailplanes glide above the Tehachapi Mountains which soar with great thermal lifts.  The other attractions to Tehachapi include the autumn apple harvest, the opening of the Caesar E. Chavez Education and Retreat Center, ostrich farming, and the Woodward which is the newest attraction.  Woodward West is the West Coast’s connection to Pennsylvania’s Camp Woodward.  The camp offers week-long residential training camps in gymnastics, skateboarding, inline skating, and BMX freestyle for children between the ages of seven and seventeen.  With a coaching staff consisting of former Olympians and professional athletes, the camp attracts campers from all around the world. 

The other areas of Kern County include rivers with monstrous catfish, mountain hiking, year round outdoor recreation for the entire family those with and without children.  Kern County is one of America’s most interesting and diverse areas to discover.  Happy Traveling.

(photos courtesy of Kern County, Taft Chamber of Commerce, Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce)