Explore the best rated trails in Tehachapi, CA, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Chuck Pontius Commuter Trail and San Francisquito Creek Trail . With more than 7 trails covering 66 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Traveling by car through the Central Valley over a hundred times during the past fifty years, I've never paused to ride a bicycle in Bakersfield. Mistake! The Kern River Parkway Trail is a way above average opportunity to take a break from the monotony of Highway 99 or I-5, get in a good ride, and get back in your car with the invigoration that a two-wheeled adventure virtually always brings.
I did the length of the trail in two parts. Daty 1, headed south to SoCal on 99, I parked at Yokuts Park (plenty of parking, easily accessible off 99) and rode east. The trail itself is wide, and smooth, well maintained, and without safety concerns. Specifically, though homelessness has been mentioned in previous posts about this path, no encampments encroached onto the path, and homeless folks numbered less than ten over the roughly sixtteen mile round trip. I got a bit confused at Manor St. : stay right, look for the narrow tunnel that goes under the street. The hills mentioned in the official description and previous posts are not steep, easily negotiable by even a mildly fit rider. I did not ride the streets to the disconnected far east portion of the trail, but will next time
On my return trip headed back home (Merced) on 99, I parked again at Yokuts Park, and headed west for a 28 mile round trip ride to the western end of the trail. What a delight! Again, the trail was wide, clean, traveling largely along water, safe, for all ages and levels of riders. Previous postings about tumble weeds....didn't see any. Again, no street crossings, as the path uses underpasses for all roads, a marvelous piece of engineering. If you're a birder, bring your binoculars, you'll be travelling along extensive wetlands. The trail drops about 400 feet in elevation over 14 miles, hardly noticeable going either downstream along the Kern, or upstream on the way back. My sense of public safety seemed to be confirmed by the many families that I encountered on foot or on bikes. The speedster bicyclists were polite, and the width of the path made it easy for the tortoises and the hares, the pedestirans and the dog walkers to get along.
This path is a beauty, an achievement of forward thinking and an excellent investment in the public good. It's easily accessible from either I-5 or Highway 99. If you're passing through Bakersfield, you'll be richly rewarded by pausing to try it out. I rode it in January (58 degrees), for summer riders, be well prepared for the heat, which can be lethal.
It’s a nice, paved trail but lots of homeless camped along it and have large dogs off leash. Also lots of garbage…Bakersfield needs to clean it up. Also never have seen such a squirrel infestation as their parks have
This is a nice rail-with-trail for getting around locally in the Lancaster/Palmdale area. A word of caution though - when going north and crossing Sierra Highway from west to east at Technology Drive (1/2 mile south of Rancho Vista Blvd/Avenue P) be sure to wait for the WALK signal, and don’t just rely on the green traffic signal for the cars. This is because traffic from the right (northbound traffic) doesn’t stop when the light is green for the traffic on Technology Drive.
From the southern end of the trail you can also connect to the Avenue S Bike Trail. This is a nice trail (which is not a rail-trail) that extends for several miles in an east-west direction (with a few gaps). There is also a gap of about 1.5 miles between the two trails.
We have used this trail several times. We have not gone on the entire trail but we have ridden 35 miles. We prefer to go west on it as it is more scenic and there are not any homeless or sketchy areas. If you go east you will encounter many homeless people and the area doesn’t seem safest. We have not been bothered by the homeless, it is just a little uncomfortable seeing some using drugs, as we have a teenage daughter. Overall this trail is well kept. You can tell the city cares deeply about this trail. It’s in our top 10 in the country!
I rode this trail and portions of some of its connectors and it was a lovely ride. I am strictly a recreational rider and these trails meet my needs. They run parallel to what passes for a river in Southern California. The trail is VERY well maintained and marked. It is essentially flat. There was zero trash and graffiti. On one side of the trail is the riverbed and on the other side there are some residential areas, parks, and access to commercial areas if you want to stop. You can go for miles and miles if you hook up with one of the connectors and are so inclined. There are
lovely views of the distant mountains and even a glimpse of Six Flags Magic Mountain. There are different places where it can be accessed. I picked one that was an established trailhead in a retail area with plenty of vehicle traffic so you do not feel that your car is out in the wilderness. But as soon as I hit the trail, I felt like I was away from the city and in a peaceful place. It can be very hot in the Santa Clarita Valley in the summer. There is of course a breeze along the river that varies in intensity. I was there early in the day and it was not an issue. I had to drive some distance to get there and it certainly was worth.
Nice ride, stared from riding up hill from Lancaster to Palmdale. The way back was Speeds up to 25 mph. Get to see a Joshua Trees and enjoyed the desert scenery.
I have been using it for the past three years almost every weekend. I enter the trail off of Mohawk being that I live near by. Going East the landscape is more varied in comparison to going west. Each side has its own type of beauty. The trail is mostly asphalt and very well maintained. I really like the fact that there is no place on the trail for cars to cross so you do not need to stop for traffic. You can ride non-stop the whole 22 miles.
Location: Bakersfield, CA
Parking: The Park at River Walk & Kern River Parkway park
Trail Condition: Excellent wide asphalt pathway. Well maintained.
Signage: No directional route signage. We did have to stop at one location and review our map. Otherwise route is mostly obvious. There is plenty of “rules” signage. Would be a nice improvement to provide directional route signage.
Comments: We rode this in two sections. First starting at the “Park at the River” and riding south to the trail end. This portion of the trail enters the open space/ground water banking area outside of town. The wide trail gets away from traffic and city noise. We spotted roadrunners, a coyote, and lots of other birds and animals along the trail. Every so far are some benches and at one time had some sort of emergency phone system but they are in the process of removing. A number of other cyclists were encountered on the trail, most offered a wave or friendly hi. Back in the urban part of the trail a number of walkers were also on the trail. Obviously a popular trail.
Section two started at Kern River Parkway park and traveled north. Trail remained mostly in good condition. Since this section goes through the main part of the city the scenery is as can be expected with housing, traffic, and shelters in the trees along the river bed. Once passed through the urban setting the trail is a little bit more “country” but isn’t nearly as long as the southern end of the trail. Plenty of folks out enjoying a sunny Saturday afternoon on the trail.
Highly recommend the southern portion of the trail.
This trail has two parallel sides. We parked at West Creek Park – a lovely park about a mile south of the northern most trailhead on the western section. This beautiful park had nice restrooms, water and plenty of parking. The trail is often lined with a white fence passing through some residential and some commercial areas. The western section is less scenic than the eastern section and passes through more commercial sections. One of the good things about the western section is that it passes a shopping center that has the best breakfast restaurant in Santa Clarita: Eggs N Things. The western section connects to the South Fork Trail and that connects to the eastern section of the San Francisquito Creek Trail so you can easily do a loop ride. The eastern section ends at the same road (Copper Hill Drive) as the western section. It is a short distance over a bridge to connect back to the western section. In between the two segments is dry river bed. The eastern section is much prettier passing through a residential area with greenery planted on the side. Going north on either section is slightly uphill, which means downhill going south! There is a separate pedestrian path and two-lane bike path. The path is smooth, well maintained and very good for running, walking, biking and rolling on anything.
This trail is one of the many beautifully maintained connected trails in Santa Clarita. It runs through basically residential areas with the dry river bed on one side. (At least it is dry in now, in February). I think this would be a more scenic trail in the summer when the trees have leaves. However, there is a certain beauty to the dry riverbed. It follows along the power lines and provides a flat, smooth surface perfect for easy biking, running and generally any kind of "rolling" be it skateboards or roller blades. There is usually a separate lane for pedestrians making it very safe for runners and walkers.
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