The Kern River Valley
Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 7:16 am
If you've ever driven Hwy 178 from Bakersfield to the desert, that little valley you pass through once you get to Lk. Isabella is what the locals call "The Kern River Valley". It's an area with a half a dozen small towns, and the entire valley has a population of 20,000, or thereabouts.
Both forks of the Kern River flow through the area and join at the Lake (reservoir). The South Fork of the Kern has very low water flow, and drains the high country up on the Kern Plateau. By summer, that fork pretty much dries up as a few ranches have water rights and take the small bit of remaining water once it gets into the Kern River Valley (KRV). The main fork of the Kern River has a nice flow of water, and is very popular with rafters during peak flow, then when the water slows down, kayaks take over.
The town of Kernville is very touristy during the summer, and there are a few rafting companies in the area. Lake Isabella is a small reservoir, very popular with boaters and fishing folk, and people "camp" (park rvs) on it's shoreline, all summer. Surrounding the lake are numerous USFS campgrounds (run by concessioners), although for some reason, the USFS allows people to pretty much park anywhere on the shore of the lake and set up camp.
Kernville is a quaint little town, the only "pretty" town in this valley, with nice stores, and a true downtown, and lots of shops, restaurants and lodging. The town of Isabella has a big supermarket and all sorts of businesses, banks, auto repair shops, even fast food.
North of Kernville, a road follows the river for about 20 miles (then continues to wind all over the mountains) and there are numerous campgrounds right along the river, shaded by riparian trees and shrubs, and some pines. These campgrounds are much nicer than those around the lake. This stretch of the Kern River is "wild and scenic" and is quite pretty, especially when the water runs deep during spring melt. Much of the rock on the canyon walls along this stretch of river is metamorphic, with shades of red. Plant life is riparian along the river, with sagebrush, gray pines and yellow pines once you get away from the river. The mountains above, depending on exposure, have an open type vegetation, with scattered pines, oaks, and in places, chaparral plants such as manzanita, and mountain mahogany. This area does not get a lot of rain, and is not heavily forested.
Summer temps in the area hover around 100, with some days hotter. We are very close to the desert, and Walker Pass (Hwy 178 goes over this pass) is only 5,000 ft. above sea level, making it so desert heat influences this area in a major way.
From Kernville, heading up river, you can be in mixed conifer forest in one hour. You can drive up onto the Kern Plateau, which has all sorts of meadows, but no lakes, and no high peaks. There are hundreds of granite domes up there, and Domeland Wilderness is a rather fascinating place to explore.
An hour north of Kernville you can also reach the southernmost giant sequoia groves, and Giant Sequoia National Monument. There are numerous small campgrounds up that way, and being USFS land, camping where ever is also allowed, depending on fire restrictions (fire permits are required if you camp out of the developed campgrounds).
I've lived in this part of the sierra for 6 years now, and have yet to explore all of it. The Kern Valley has numerous peaks surrounding it on all sides, so the view changes constantly as you move around the valley. It's dry here, typical precipitation is 12" a year, although this year we received about half that amount.
Kern River in fall
Typical dryness of the area
You can see Lake Isabella on the valley floor, the peaks in the distance are on the Kern Plateau. View is looking North/east from Hwy 155, Evans Rd.
Both forks of the Kern River flow through the area and join at the Lake (reservoir). The South Fork of the Kern has very low water flow, and drains the high country up on the Kern Plateau. By summer, that fork pretty much dries up as a few ranches have water rights and take the small bit of remaining water once it gets into the Kern River Valley (KRV). The main fork of the Kern River has a nice flow of water, and is very popular with rafters during peak flow, then when the water slows down, kayaks take over.
The town of Kernville is very touristy during the summer, and there are a few rafting companies in the area. Lake Isabella is a small reservoir, very popular with boaters and fishing folk, and people "camp" (park rvs) on it's shoreline, all summer. Surrounding the lake are numerous USFS campgrounds (run by concessioners), although for some reason, the USFS allows people to pretty much park anywhere on the shore of the lake and set up camp.
Kernville is a quaint little town, the only "pretty" town in this valley, with nice stores, and a true downtown, and lots of shops, restaurants and lodging. The town of Isabella has a big supermarket and all sorts of businesses, banks, auto repair shops, even fast food.
North of Kernville, a road follows the river for about 20 miles (then continues to wind all over the mountains) and there are numerous campgrounds right along the river, shaded by riparian trees and shrubs, and some pines. These campgrounds are much nicer than those around the lake. This stretch of the Kern River is "wild and scenic" and is quite pretty, especially when the water runs deep during spring melt. Much of the rock on the canyon walls along this stretch of river is metamorphic, with shades of red. Plant life is riparian along the river, with sagebrush, gray pines and yellow pines once you get away from the river. The mountains above, depending on exposure, have an open type vegetation, with scattered pines, oaks, and in places, chaparral plants such as manzanita, and mountain mahogany. This area does not get a lot of rain, and is not heavily forested.
Summer temps in the area hover around 100, with some days hotter. We are very close to the desert, and Walker Pass (Hwy 178 goes over this pass) is only 5,000 ft. above sea level, making it so desert heat influences this area in a major way.
From Kernville, heading up river, you can be in mixed conifer forest in one hour. You can drive up onto the Kern Plateau, which has all sorts of meadows, but no lakes, and no high peaks. There are hundreds of granite domes up there, and Domeland Wilderness is a rather fascinating place to explore.
An hour north of Kernville you can also reach the southernmost giant sequoia groves, and Giant Sequoia National Monument. There are numerous small campgrounds up that way, and being USFS land, camping where ever is also allowed, depending on fire restrictions (fire permits are required if you camp out of the developed campgrounds).
I've lived in this part of the sierra for 6 years now, and have yet to explore all of it. The Kern Valley has numerous peaks surrounding it on all sides, so the view changes constantly as you move around the valley. It's dry here, typical precipitation is 12" a year, although this year we received about half that amount.
Kern River in fall
Typical dryness of the area
You can see Lake Isabella on the valley floor, the peaks in the distance are on the Kern Plateau. View is looking North/east from Hwy 155, Evans Rd.