Kern County, California
23 locations. View on the interactive map
- Asphalto — Historic · Kern County, CA
Historical asphaltum / oil-country settlement on the west side of the southern San Joaquin Valley near the McKittrick–Taft mineral belt. A field-history pin …
- Burro Schmidt Tunnel — Historic · Kern County, CA
Half-mile hand-dug tunnel through solid granite in the El Paso Mountains — one man, pick and dynamite, 1906–1938. NRHP-listed desert oddity overlooking Fremo…
- Butterbredt Spring — Wildlife · Kern County, CA
Desert spring and Important Bird Area on the south edge of the Sierra–Mojave transition, inside the Jawbone–Butterbredt ACEC. Cottonwood/willow riparian cove…
- Canebrake Ecological Reserve — Wildlife · Kern County, CA
CDFW ecological reserve on the South Fork Kern River corridor east of Lake Isabella, protecting cottonwood-willow riparian forest, blue oak woodland, sagebru…
- Castle Butte — Geology · Kern County, CA
A isolated Mojave Desert butte rising east of California City, mapped by the USGS as a distinctive volcanic and sedimentary landmark of the Castle Butte quad…
- Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area — Wildlife · Kern County, CA
BLM Research Natural Area and ACEC in the western Mojave protecting high-density desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) habitat at the southwest end of the Ran…
- El Paso Mountains Wilderness (Black Mountain) — Geology · Kern County, CA
BLM wilderness in the northern Mojave anchored by Black Mountain (5,244 ft), an extinct volcanic high point rising above dark mesas, reddish buttes, and narr…
- Garlock — Ghost Town · Kern County, CA
1890s stamp-mill camp at the foot of the El Paso Mountains that crushed ore from the Rand Mining District (Yellow Aster and neighbors). California Historical…
- Gold Town — Ghost Town · Kern County, CA
Historical mining camp on the western edge of the Mojave Desert near the Soledad Mountain / Mojave approaches. A thin Kern desert ghost-town pin for the Gold…
- Jawbone Canyon — Natural · Kern County, CA
Broad Mojave-side canyon and recreation gateway in the Eastern Kern County BLM / Jawbone-Butterbredt area west of CA-14, where desert washes cut into the El …
- Johannesburg — Ghost Town · Kern County, CA
Living ghost town on the Rand Mining District opposite Randsburg—once billed the “Queen City of the Rand” after 1890s gold strikes. Weathered false-front blo…
- Kern National Wildlife Refuge — Wildlife · Kern County, CA
USFWS wetland refuge on the southern San Joaquin Valley floor west of Delano, the centerpiece of the Kern National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Restored marsh, s…
- Kern River Preserve — Wildlife · Kern County, CA
Audubon California’s South Fork Kern River preserve protects one of the state’s largest remaining lowland riparian forests—cottonwood–willow woodland and adj…
- Koehn Lake — Natural · Kern County, CA
Large dry-lake / playa basin in the Fremont Valley of the western Mojave, near the historic Saltdale salt works approaches. Classic high-desert lakebed scene…
- Last Chance Canyon Arch — Geology · Kern County, CA
Named natural arch in the El Paso Mountains along Last Chance Canyon, a classic northern Mojave canyon system of colorful badlands, volcanic and sedimentary …
- Randsburg — Ghost Town · Kern County, CA
Living Mojave Desert gold camp on Rand Mountain, founded after the 1895 strike and peaking near 3,500 residents by 1899. Rand Mining District is California H…
- Red Rock Canyon State Park — Geology · Kern County, CA
Colorful cliff-and-butte badlands where the southern Sierra Nevada meets the El Paso Mountains on the western Mojave. Soft sedimentary layers eroded into red…
- Robbers Roost — Historic · Kern County, CA
Jagged BLM rock formation (also Bandit Rock) in the Scodie Mountains overlooking Indian Wells Valley. 19th-century stage-route lookout associated with the Ti…
- Saltdale — Ghost Town · Kern County, CA
Salt-harvesting company town founded in 1914 on the shore of Koehn Dry Lake in the northern Mojave, northeast of California City near Garlock. A narrow-gauge…
- Short Canyon — Natural · Kern County, CA
BLM Area of Critical Environmental Concern on the Sierra Nevada desert fringe west of Ridgecrest, famous for spring wildflower displays (200+ species reporte…
- Tule Elk State Natural Reserve — Wildlife · Kern County, CA
California State Parks sanctuary near Buttonwillow protecting a managed herd of tule elk—an endemic subspecies once nearly extinct—plus San Joaquin Valley gr…
- Walker Pass — Historic · Kern County, CA
National Historic Landmark and California Historical Landmark on SR-178 at the southern Sierra Crest (5,250 ft). Joseph R. Walker charted the pass in 1834; l…
- Wind Wolves Preserve — Wildlife · Kern County, CA
California’s largest nonprofit nature preserve at the San Emigdio Mountains–San Joaquin Valley interface, where Transverse Ranges, Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevad…