I live here in Bakersfield for almost two years the fishing sucks even way up here in the kern…read moreriver I fished all the way up from the bridge all the way down from the river no fish I used flies and everything else and nothing. but the scenery is beautiful and dangerous at the same time really rocky if you want to catch fish try the kings river and upper kings there's lots of life in that river and wild life everywhere all year round up there take the 99 hwy to the 180 hwy it's a drive but worth it

LOVED IT ! Awesome spot right on the Kern River on your way to johnsondale and the trail of 100…read moreGiants

Super fun hike went after the rainy season and it was incredibly beautiful wildflowers everywhere…read morenot too many people on the trail a few dogs a few bikers lots of rushing water down in the valley very beautiful

Nice trail. Be wary of the psycho dude that owns the large log cabin style home near the parking…read morearea.

Oh how I completely love the Kern River!! I have been going for 24 years. It has never been as…read morebeautiful and full as it is now. One of my dearest friends is a seasoned river rafter. When we go river rafting, we mainly stay @ Headquarters or Sandy Flat Campground. This past weekend, we stayed at Sandy Flat. It was amazing. It is right off the river. The river was full and had power. I will add official stats by this weekend. My favorite group of runs is called The Jungle. (I will fact check this). I think that a great run was called Dilly. It is a class 4!! OMGoodness, it was wild & fun. Once more rafters arrived we went on another run. I will get the official names. One is named ... something Deli. Anyways, EPIC FUN. I forgot my wetsuit. I just went on June 3rd. The water was C O L D. Our guide, Doug, told us NOT to bring our phones. I wish I would have remembered my Go - Pro. We were lucky that the 178 reopened for the drive home. It was 93 degrees. I was mesmerized by the river. I couldn't stop watching it on the drive home.

The Kern River is beautiful…read more This review is based on a first timers camping visit. Coming up here from San Diego we didn't really know what to expect other than we might have an opportunity to tube down the river. So everyone in our group brought river tubes. That was our first miscalculation. Aperently tubing depends on the season, recent weather conditions, and various natural events that really narrow the scope of when you can tube safety. Also consider how you plan to get back up to your campsite after you tube down the river a few miles.. Ideally you rent tubes from a company that also shuttles you back up the river. If you don't want to rent tubs someone in your group has to pick you up and drive you back, which is a pain. There is no cell service and no uber... The Kern River is best suited for kayaking and rafting. There are many companies in kernville that offer those services. Camping. If you're looking to camp along the river during the summer you need to think about booking in January. During our stay mid-June, the entire river was booked solid.. We stayed at Sandy Flats campgroup which had a small beach area by the river. Litter bugs. One of the most discouraging things to see along the river was the amount of trash that people leave behind. The number one item? Used diapers.. If you can manage to visit midweek, and be prepared to use a kayak/rafting company you will have an epic time. Note - Sequoia National Park is about an hours drive away. Makes for a great day trip.

This trailhead looks like a dirt turnout from Caliente Bodfish Rd (County Rd 483). The trailhead…read moreis located at lat/long coordinates 35.569589,-118.506856. If you copy and paste those coordinates into Google Maps, it will give you the exact location. To start the hike, you have to go past a barbed wire fence gate and head north up a steep incline to the ridge. Once on the ridge, walk back south to the summit (located at 35.567219, -118.512666). It is a short hike (~2 miles) with an elevation gain of 670 feet. This is a great little hike that is suitable for beginners and children or anyone looking to get out for a quick morning hike.

This is a great hike if you're looking to get in shape or if you're trying to get a view of the…read morelake.

May, 2024. We stayed one night at this campground mid-week in our Class B RV after having made…read morereservations on Recreation.gov. Finding the campground (Rating: 1/5). We had had a LONG driving day, it was getting dark, and we were not familiar with the Lake Isabella area. We passed several National Sequoia Forest campgrounds on the lake that had vacancies but Tillie Creek was still further along -- and required navigating a curvy road where the speed limit and driving by locals was too fast for conditions. When our GPS reported that we had reached, we didn't see any signage that a campground was there so we mistakenly missed it. However, we then noticed picnic tables and fire rings that were suggestive of the campground so we turned back and found the campground. Finding a site. (Rating: 4/5). Being mid-week, almost ALL of the sites were available but most had tags that they were reserved for the weekend. We selected a fairly level site -- and were soon joined by the camp host who checked us in and gave us our car tag. He also warned us to be careful because there were rattlesnakes in the area. We only saw a bunny! It turned out that only the camp host, another rv, and us were the only ones on-site for the night. It also turned out that our selected site (#18) wasn't ideal because there was early morning traffic noise. This campground does not offer showers, but it does have restrooms and water spigots. Also note that one section of the campground isn't being maintained -- beyond where Tillie Creek had flooded. Also, to our knowledge, the lake is not easily accessible from the campground.

Stayed at this campground over the weekend. The campground is very pleasant, quiet, and has many…read moredifferent sites available. We chose a site in a grove of trees and it's been amazing have shade throughout the entire day. The campground isn't perfect, we were lost when we first came in, went up the road to some mobile homes and then finally when we reached the campground it looked slightly abandoned. The booth where you check in was abandoned, in disrepair and full of cobwebs, a playground was full of empty frames of where swings and stuff should be, and like I mentioned before looked empty. We eventually found the camp host who was very pleasant and helpful though and were given the choice to pick any site we wanted. About an hour from Sequoia's trail of 100 giants and a few minutes from the French Gulge Marina where we rented some kayaks. Only real downside was there were a lot of wasps at our campsite when we tried to prepare food and no showers on site either. Toilets are basically outhouses but were kept clean. All in all had a good weekend away here.

So much fun. Lower Kern Class 2/3. Perfect for first timers and families…read more Our guide, Glen, was like a Kern River/County History professor. Jumping in the water and floating with the current, Rock jumping and hitting some good rapids with the occasional hole. Emily, our Trip Leader, was great. My 3rd experience with Sierra South. Highly recommended

Another 5 star adventure!…read more My family has made a (near) annual visit to Kernville for the past 10 years and we try to book a rafting experience. Today my family of four enjoyed another trip down the lower Kern and several class 3 & 4 rapids. We were treated well, the guides were professional, and we all felt safe. Looking forward already to our trip next year!

This review is for Isabella Peak which was a ~2.3 miles round trip that took ~1 hour, 30 minutes to…read morecomplete. Trailhead was located inside and to the left of Hungry Gulch Campground. Trail was mostly a narrow dirt path with several steep inclines. Instead of following the AllTrails route through Coso Mine; we went with a more direct and slightly shorter route towards Isabella Peak. Stunning views of Lake Isabella at higher elevations! Parking was at a small dirt lot to the right of Hungry Gulch Campground sign. Short video of the hike for those interested! https://youtu.be/0VOvmYcGY5U

Most horrible experience ever. We could not sleep a single minute till the morning because of…read moreextremely loud group of people singing and screaming, and ranger did absolutely nothing. When we asked them nicely to be more quiet after 2am, they said we are waisting out time and will only listen to the rangers. It is 6 am and nothing changed. Unfortunately ranger working here is not interested at all about the rules and does absolutely nothing when even being asked multiple times.

I am 56 yrs young and It was my first time white water rafting, the crew gave all of us great…read moreinstructions and made the learning experience fun even before we got into our rafts, when we did start rafting there system of starting at lower level rapids is perfect to get us used to taking instructions and maneuvering the raft through the river, then as we went up the river and the level of rapids increased so did the excitement and fun plus some adrenaline infusion, all of the guides were good but I think our guides Miles and Dillon were the best , THANKS GUYS YOU ROCK

The three of us booked the half day Kern Class IV 'Big 5' trip online. As someone who was…read morecompletely new to white water rafting, I was a little nervous, but this is a great trip for beginners. It does help to be familiar with the water as you will get wet and there are 2 - 3 spots where you can swim in the river with a life jacket on while the raft flows behind you. Shout out to Mauricio for keeping us safe and being a great guide.

We went on the Gusto trip on 8/4/18 and it was incredible. The staff here are the most down to…read moreearth people I've met in a long time. We were the first people to get to the meeting location that day and it was like we arrived at a friends house. Everyone is super friendly, helpful, and your safety and rafting experience are their #1 priority. We did not get one negative vide the entire day. Kyle, our guide definitely was a huge part of why we all had a fantastic day, #SendIt. He was incredibly patient and calm throughout the day. He was always reassuring in what to do to get through each rapid. The directions given were very clear to all the rafters, but never over pressuring. All around a perfect summer day, we will 100% be back and with more people. Thank you again Kern River Tours!!!!

Wow! What an amazing find. This place totally exceeded my expectations. From the moment we walked…read morein, the staff was super friendly and attentive.