I can't believe I've lived in California my entire life and never visited the Sequoias until now…read more It was such an amazing experience. The weather was perfect, and the trails were incredible. This place is absolutely stunning. I hope to come back someday. 1/11/25

I decided to go see the Trailer of 100 Giants. It had signs. There was a $12.00 fee. They had an…read morearea where you can drop in the envelope. There are signs with descriptions in regards to the trees. Part of the trail was closed. Overall, it was great to see the sequoias. There also is a gift shop nearby with souvenirs and some snacks.

I don't know how to even describe this park, maybe, magical... The sequoias are majestic with sugar…read morepines sprinkled all around. I was here with the Sisters Corp. to do some volunteer work. I did not want to miss the opportunity to give my time for this beautiful place. This is my first time to visit this National Park and I know now it will not be my last. My first day at the volunteer camp group site as we gathered at the table to meet each other and go over the agenda for the weekend we had the opportunity to see a black bear casually roam through our campground near the tents (one of them was mine). We were all informed prior to arriving not to leave any scented items in the tents. No one wonder the bear kept moving along, but with the help of our camp host shooing it away from the campground. This is something we learned from the rangers, is to shoo them away so they don't get in the habit of coming around. The park offers many hiking trails, I had the chance to do one of many, which was the Long Meadow Trail. Very beautiful, plenty of foliage and evidence of a bear in the area. Another part of the park I got to visit was General Sherman. There is a park ranger that will tell you the history of the General Sherman tree. You can wait in a long line to take a pic in front of the tree with a General Sherman sign. Or you can take a pic around the fenced majestic tree. I choose not to wait in line. I had the chance to shuttle to General Sherman tree from the Museum. The Shuttle is free and seems to come every 10-15 min. From General Sherman I also shuttled to the Lodgepole marketplace and visitor center. In this area are bathrooms with showers (coin operated, quarters). The Marketplace has an area to order some food and also a section where you can purchase some ice cream by the scoop. The store offers assorted ice cream bars. The visitor center offers gift items as well as the marketplace. At the front of the visitor center they had a ranger available at a booth if you had any questions. This place is quite busy! Parking lot is a madhouse. Nearby is a campground you may want to check out or ask the ranger for some info. If you can, arrive early, find parking at the Museum and shuttle to everything if you can. Warning, when I was doing volunteer work in the parking lot across from the museum we witnessed a black bear enjoying some berries in the bushes. I'm not sure if they will venture into the parking lot with a lot human activity going on but be careful what you leave in your car, anything and everything with a scent. The park has so much to see. I look forward to returning to volunteer and to take advantage of what the park has to offer.

Best national park I've ever been to and that's saying a lot…read more It's magical, and I highly recommend getting to the Sherman trailhead prior to 9:30am if you want a parking spot. Takes about an hour to get in there, up there and parked so plan accordingly. The congress trail was amazing and for a 3.5 mile hike it took about 2.5 hours with frequent stops for pictures. Highly recommend a stop at lodge pole for refreshments and merch. Incredible experience from start to finish.

Definitely a super hidden gem in the Kern River Valley…read more Kern River Preserve has always been on my list of places to visit and finally, over the summer, I had a chance to explore. Mind you, the heat can be somewhat unbearable in July. And in all likelihood Spring and Fall are the more common seasons. A little background of the Kern River Preserve. It's actually owned by the National Audubon Society. It's also located in one of the largest contiguous riparian forests in the stata at 3,000 acres. There is a small visitors center. I highly suggest calling before arriving to find out if there will be a docent or guide. Best times to visit are spring. You'll get the best of flora and fauna with blooming flowers and migratory birds. ' The Kern Audubon Society is a wealth of knowledge and happy to help with info.

I've had great times at the Kern River Preserve. Lots to see and learn about. Very interesting…read more Sometimes, well before Covid anyway, people would come and they would have something going on at the preserve where other people would come and show what animals or plants, just anything that you could literally find at the preserve that they had ppl bring their stuff and teach us about different snakes that are Indigenous to this area and won't harm you, and which will. People have been here before and pointed out the difference in good plants, harmful plants, plants people have different not wonderful reactions to like stinging nettle and what it looks like. It's really interesting stuff. Call and find out if there are tours or if the trails are open for hiking due to covid, as maybe the trails are overgrown??? Some on the backside of the lake look very bad. I was given tours there when we were in jr college at Cerro Coso Community College in Lake Isabella (21 yrs ago). I've had them teach us things too when there's an event, so look for that. I don't know if anything's going on their since Covid? Ask them about the turkey vultures, and volunteer to count them if they're still doing that! That was a blast! Trina (Guerra) B.

We Love the calmness and friendliness of the town. Beautiful view of the lake. We visit once a year…read moreand feel rejuvenated when we leave

Nice park area, shaded, close to the lakeshore. The County should invest more in this park to make…read moreit nice.

This is an amazing park! It was so green and plenty of space for people to get their own spot. I…read morewent in the afternoon, so it was hot! There were a lot of ducks in the lake. I plan to come back another time to enjoy the scenery in the morning.

Amazing trail running with a stunning poppy field we happened to stumble across. Great for people…read morewho just want to take a nice stroll as well. There are bathrooms near the bottom of the trail and within the park if you need them. My only complaint was that the gun range nearby can be really loud, though people aren't always there. I'll definitely be back for the incline and the views.

If you're looking to camp and you don't want to drive too far from Los Angeles, Red Rock Canyon…read moreState Park is a great option. They have several campgrounds which is first and first serve. There's also several hiking spots in the area, which are less than a mile. There's also a visitor center, which has a lot of information about the park and clean bathroom. Great spot for photos!

Beautiful state park offering a cute Visitor Center, plentiful hiking trails, and a campground…read more Entrance fee as of Feb. 2026 is $5.00, payable at the Visitor Center, and is required to park anywhere in the park. Known for its striking red cliffs, this park also offers great wildflower viewing. I hiked the Hagen Canyon Trail, which already had flowers blooming in what is technically still winter! Highly recommended.

Very moving despite not being located in Oahu. They have a tank, amphibious landing vehicle, and…read morestructural pieces from the Arizona fenced off in the center. #pearlharbor #veterans

Nice little green park with restrooms, a Patton Tank and an Amphibious Vehicle. Good place to get…read moreout of the car if driving thru Lake Isabella on CA-178.

Had a great time on the trail with my husband! Perfect weather and smells. Would definitely…read morerecommend this for a road trip stop and/or your destination for the day.

My family and I rented a houseboat from the Marina a few weeks back, to go out on the lake and fish…read moreall day. The boat rental was fairly inexpensive - a little under 200 dollars for a 10 person boat, and we really enjoyed our experience. The staff was friendly and helpful at the Marina, and despite not catching anything, we had a fantastic day. Add in the fact that the lake is beautiful, we had a great time. We will be back, with more of the family this time!!

All the time I lived her I never knew this park was here. My son went with his friends and I was…read moresurprised when I saw it. Its cute, but the area around it isn't so nice. It wouldn't be my first choice to have a picnic and relax with family. It is well kept up and plenty of seating for a party. It has a couple bbq's, and a half basketball court. The jungle gym is small and there are no swings. It does have some nice shade trees and lots of grass to play catch or just lay out a blanket to relax and watch your kids play.

Tehachapi certainly knows how to make cute parks!…read more Pioneer Park is owned and maintained by the city of Tehachapi. There's no public restroom (or at least I didn't spot one on my last visit a few months back). It's super tiny and quaint and beautifully landscaped. It's a perfect addition to the area. There's a half court for shooting hoops. Don't count on playing a full game here. Just practice your free throws! There are about half a dozen picnic benches and a nice kids play area with new equipment that includes a small rock wall for the kids. This is a great addition to this residential area in downtown Tehachapi!

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.