Touring * Fitness * Artistic *

On State Highway 99 approaching Bakersfield from the north, go past the junction with State Highway 204. One mile south of the junction, take the exit for Rosedale Highway (State Highway 178) and 24th Street, turn left to pass under Highway 99, and cross the Kern River. (You can look down from the 24th Street bridge to see the Kern River trail.) Turn right just after the bridge onto Oak Street, which marks the eastern border of small Bakersfield Beach Park, and take the first right after that (21st Street) to leave your car in the shade of the park. The Beach Park access ramp up to the river trail is at the far side of the park toward the river. (If you can't find a curb space in the park, go back to 21st Street, turn right to park in the sunny dirt lot next to the river, and carry your skates up the bank of the levee.

Skate alongside the mighty Kern River toward its source--the same river that slices north to south from the base of Mount Whitney through the highest of the High Sierra. By contrast, here the river winds past the flat farmlands and oil refineries of the southern San Joaquin Valley. As you skate away from Bakersfield Beach Park, you'll see the sandy "beach" on the riverbank, where it drops steeply down from the trail. Swimming is permitted, though lifeguards are not evident. This trail is obviously the best spot in town for all kinds of competitive activities: various start and finish lines and distance markers are painted on the asphalt, possibly adding to the local confusion about the trail's length, which is claimed by some to be up to 18 miles long, but currently includes only 7.5 miles of actual pavement end to end. Just beyond the park area, the chain-link fence on the right does a good job of adding an industrial flavor, so it's best to direct your attention to the left, to the variations of the river itself. This section of the Kern River Bike Path has been around a while, and its surroundings have been left in a more natural state than the eastern part of the trail, except, of course, for the omnipresent dams and canals. Landscaping is supposedly in the works, but there hasn't been a beautification project here yet. The asphalt path is in quite good condition for most of the four miles heading east from Beach Park. However, just before you cross under the railroad tracks, you'll find a .10-mile stretch of very coarse pavement. Consider turning back here, because after the painted six-mile marker, rough asphalt makes the last mile and a half quite unpleasant. These bad patches seem to have gotten so much sun that the tar has evaporated from between the pebbles that make up the asphalt; where the underpasses create shade, the trail improves. For those continuing on: after a long, seemingly unnecessary curve to the southeast, a hairpin turn swerves the trail around to the north, running parallel to Manor Street. You'll see a blocked-off tunnel under Manor with no trail leading to it, possibly indicating plans to extend the trail beneath that street and toward the high mesa hills on the other side. The path finally terminates at a staging area at the intersection of Manor and Georgia. A drinking fountain would be very welcome by the time you arrive, but there's no plumbing here as of yet--nor even, for that matter, a smidgen of shade or grass, or a bench where a weary skater might rest.