Saturdays, especially on long weekends are made for us to go explore all the beautiful nature that we are surrounded by in southern California. Kernville is about 3 hours North of LA nears Bakersfield, on the edge of Sequoia mountain with Lake Isabella located centrally between upper and lower Kern river.
Kernville itself is a small town with a small town square edged with yummy restaurants a few small inns and literally right on the river. There are tons of water sports rental places as tubing is a huge thing to do here. This weekend there was an arts and crafts expo in the square with all sorts of lovely crafts.
We drove up along lower Kern river and was treated to beautiful scenery of gorges and the lovely Kern river bubbling along, there were a few turn offs where more adventurous (and possibly child less) people were hiking down to the river.
We drove along upper Kern river (the portion above Lake Isabella) and found a day use place and pulled off and had a totally delicious lunch of Korean pork belly grilled over a propane stove... There is just something about cooking and eating outside, even if over propane that makes everything taste 100 times better.
We ventured out towards the river but literally both sides were lined with small tents and blankets and the kids were literally stepping in people's blankets to go look at the river... Sorry guys. Being the responsible parents we were, we decided to drive back to Kernville and have ice cream and coffee before finding a nice semi secluded area for some splash and wading fun.
While driving back down the 155 we found a small day use place off the road and quickly pulled off. It was breath taking, there were a few fly Fisherman a few yards upstream and a group of people drinking and tubing downstream but it was perfect.
The kids had tons of fun splashing in the shallow river bed, learning to skip stones and getting filthy, as kids should in the summer. Being Korean we whipped out our propane stove and made some Ramen... Sapporo ichiban for the kids and Shin Ramen for the adults. Ahhhhhh enjoying nature with spicy Ramen... Does not get better!
A few notes for those that want to explore Kernville. Take the 5 North until the 178 East then get on the 155 West to Kernville. Note that you may find a nice day use site before you even get on the 155. We passed plenty and ultimately ended up on the lower river, near the lake.
Kernville itself has a lovely river front park that is also nice for families who prefer a less out in the wild river experience. Plenty of street parking, and walking distance from the river to the square. There is a coffee shop on the square that sold mini ice cream cones for ¢50! Perfect for the Littles. There was also an awesome playground there which the kids loved.
Bring: bathing suits, towels, sunscreen, and tubes. The water can be rough so always bring life jackets or puddle jumpers for the kids.
We found the drive to be about 3 hours to Kernville and was do-able as a day trip but exhausting.
Happy exploring!
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