Bakersfield, California Bound

bruggymonster

bruggymonster

Member
So, I just finished my first year of college and got an internship for the month of May this summer. I'll technically be working at a warehouse in Buttonwillow but living in Bakersfield. I'm from Iowa so this will be a huge change for me. Does anyone have any tips or tricks to getting used to the Cali life? Also what are some "need to do" things before I leave? Lastly, what all is there to do in Bakersfield/ nearby area? Thanks and any advice/ opinions are welcome!
 
I'm sorry you have to stay in Bakersfield. The Gorman ohv area isn't to far from you although, I've never been there and you're not to far from the Sierras either. LA is just a quick trip over the grapevine.
 
You will have Tehachapi up the hill east. Cool little town. Northeast is 3 big National parks if you into that. Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite. Gotta check them out just don't go on a holiday weekend. Think amusement park! West is Carrizo Plains National monument. It has been getting some rain lately so kinda greened up some. (My wife does work out there) There is Pismo Beach west to the coast, cool town plus you can drive on beach there. Then south of ya is Big Bear, Lots of 4 wheeling there. Must check it out! There is always someone on here going up to Big Bear. And of course there is LA south. Anything and everything you can ever want or think of you can find in or around LA.
Good luck with the air quality in Bako!
 
Bakersfield is not a bad place. The air quality is pretty bad most of the time, but has been getting better. This is not a small city and is pretty much divided into 4 separate towns. North, south, east and west. West part of town is nicest with the least amount of crime.

The population is around 500k. There are bad neighborhoods that you will want to avoid like any big city. It is a great place to invest in real estate and you can live comfortably here without having an outrageous cost of living.

Bakersfield is centrally located and you can get to LA in two hours or the beach in two hours. You can make it to Paso Robles in an hour and a half and enjoy all the glorious wineries. We have a local brewery with 3 locations and two new breweries opening this year. The bluffs are located on the east side of town with a ton of Mountain bike trails and dirtbike trails. You can get into the sequoia national Forest in about an hour.

There are jeep trails all over lake Isabella that are great day trips. Plus the lake is empty now and you can just drive through it with your jeep so that's pretty cool. Minus the whole no water thing. There are plenty of us WAL members living in Bakersfield and the surrounding areas. Good luck with the move.
 
Lots of good ideas above, and I would agree with them all. As mentioned, Gorman(Hungry Valley) is a large off road park that I'v been going to since I was 8 yrs old. Lots to do there. You might also want to stop by a ranger station in the area to get some maps. there are a lot of trails that are off of the Frazier exit at the top of the grape vine.
 
Brace yourself for culture shock. Bakersfield is centrally located however that's all it really has going for it. 20-30 years ago it was a nice smaller town. Now the air quality is the worst in the nation, crime is at the point where someone is murdered just about every day, the population has almost doubled in the last 30 years and most of them are either here illegally or are just plain scumbags, there's very little water due to the drought and the idiots that run this state and its about to get hotter then hell. But hey, enjoy your stay :cheesy:
 
And don't forget the high desert to the east, Mojave, Cal City, Ridgecrest etc. And you have Last chance Canyon, Goler Gulch, and Nightmare if they EVER re-open it.
Then on the east side of the sierras you have Kennedy Meadows, Sherman Peak, and Monache Meadows. Further north you get into the Mammoth Mountain area. Just throwing out a few ideas.
 
bruggymonster said:
So, I just finished my first year of college and got an internship for the month of May this summer. I'll technically be working at a warehouse in Buttonwillow but living in Bakersfield. I'm from Iowa so this will be a huge change for me. Does anyone have any tips or tricks to getting used to the Cali life? Also what are some "need to do" things before I leave? Lastly, what all is there to do in Bakersfield/ nearby area? Thanks and any advice/ opinions are welcome!
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My wife and I (Tjen97) moved to Bakersfield from Ohio. For us it was an easy transition. Bakersfield is easy to find your way around.

We now live about an hour east in the mountains. Let us know if you need anything or advice on the area.

Chris
 
piginajeep said:
My wife and I (Tjen97) moved to Bakersfield from Ohio. For us it was an easy transition. Bakersfield is easy to find your way around.

We now live about an hour east in the mountains. Let us know if you need anything or advice on the area.

Chris
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Tehachapi?
 
piginajeep said:
Well that's good. Big lay offs right now. Delano? That's BFE
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Well not if the price of oil keep coming up. I use to work for a company based out of Bako. I worked in Ventura for them. I'm now in South Texas, we had some serious cuts but we are starting to ramp back up a bit. I'm not going to lie I was pretty scary for a guy with nothing but oilfield experience.
Well if you like to get out and travel there is nowhere better to be than Bako. It's almost in the middle of everything. You can pretty much go any direction and there will be something awesome.
I do have to say you need to get to the national parks while your there. Coming from Texas, when I seen the Giant Sequoia trees for the first time... 😲
 
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