A Trip Around Lake Isabella is Like a Piece of Heaven

By Catherine Stachowiak, Kern Valley Sun

A trip around Isabella Lake, in the Kern Valley of the Sequoia Forest, is a relaxing and exciting experience for visitors and locals alike. History, recreation, and ecology buffs would definitely want to experience this trip.

People who couldn’t care less about history, ecology, or recreation would also think the trip is worthwhile because of the other valley activities tourists would enjoy doing and the sightseeing.

Come take a trip around Isabella Lake and see what there is to experience. The brief car trip makes the drive easy to bear for the children in your backseat. Romance seekers would also delight that the area is like a quiet and secluded piece of heaven. So whatever your reasons for venturing this area, whatever your age, you won’t be disappointed.

Begin your trip with a tour of the Silver City Ghost Town in Bodfish, just adjacent to the town of Lake Isabella. The surrounding mountain views are inviting enough. History buffs would welcome a tour of the historical buildings collected from mining camps of Old Isabella, Keyesville, South Fork and Whiskey Flat, as well as other local frontier settlements.

Travel further along Lake Isabella Boulevard and then enjoy Uffert Park, also known to locals as Tank Park, a memorial to US Veterans. The park features military vehicles and artifacts, which include salvaged parts from the USS Arizona, honoring various service members and conflicts such as World War II. According to the local American Legion Post 711, kids are welcome to climb on the military tanks, or play in the nearby playground. And just across the street you may decide to visit the Kathe Malouf Dog Park with your pet. There you’ll find the Linda E. Kissack Ball Field, and Randall Skate Park with its satisfying obstacles and 10,000 square feet of concrete facility to use for skateboarding, scooters, and BMX bikes. The skate park allows for tricks with rails, ramps, ledges, and a half-pipe area.

Head down closer to the lake. Starting near the Erskine Creek Road intersection, and extending south up Lake Isabella Boulevard, enjoy a walk along the walking path, which local native tribes and the Kern River Valley Heritage Foundation have surrounded with native plant landscaping and a border fence. Along the path you’ll find the sea containers, which local artists beautified with hand painted murals.

The property is part of a Hot Springs Valley Wetlands Preserve project. And at this location, even those who are disabled can still have the pleasure of exploring. Your pets are welcome to tag along. Joggers and bicyclists find the views to be stunning. Yet elderly or small children can make use of the recently installed resting benches.

The Urban Greening grant funds the path, and helped establish and maintain the green belt, protecting the adjacent wetlands. The location is easy to find between the Ark Church building and Erskine Creek Road intersection, and running all the way out to Highway 178. After these outings, consider taking the kids over to have a snack or meal at the Kern Valley Plaza where eateries are plentiful.

Take your partner on a romantic date. Enjoy fine dining and live music or comedy at the 178 Bar & Grill.

Visit Dam Korner, right up Lake Isabella Boulevard for Dick Weed’s Brews & Grub. Dick Weed’s has more large sports screens than any sports grill around. Its rich history, with a wall dedicated to its namesake, old time miner and musician Dick Weed, makes it a fun showcase experience.

Wind your way up Highway 178 to Red’s Marina for some fishing and a good lunch, right on the lake. You may find it interesting to know that dedicated volunteers from the Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce feed the trout there in pens for many weeks before the Isabella Lake Fishing Derby the chamber organizes.

This year’s Isabella Lake Fishing Derby is planned for March 28-30. You stand to win cash prizes by participating and when you catch the right fish.

The same chamber holds an annual Christmas Parade on Lake Isabella Boulevard with Santa Claus.

Along Isabella Lake you can also find an Independence Day celebration, with a fireworks display the Saturday closest to July 4.

Join your date for an evening of dinner and cocktails at Paradise Cove Lodge. The dining room is well positioned to experience a breathtaking and relaxing view of the lake.

Farther past the cove you can divert up Sierra Way, from Route 178, and visit South Fork Wildlife Area. Experience its abundant wildlife and views of butterflies, while hiking, fishing, birding, taking photos, or canoeing.

Heading further up Sierra Way toward Kernville, you will see Stine Cove Recreation Site where the Forest Service allows hunting, fishing, shooting and non-motorized boating.

Go a distance more and you’ll come across Camp 9 Recreation Area Campground, where families enjoy camping, sunning, boating, rafting and swimming. Bring your pooch along to this site.

 

 

Later you may enjoy a jaunt through some Kernville gift shops or antique stores. Go for a dip in the Kern River, or try out some fishing or rafting. Take a leisurely walk at Riverside Park where, in August, the Kern Valley Hospital Foundation holds Concerts in the Park each Friday of the month during its annual River Rhythms series.

The Kern River Conservancy holds its annual Trout Fest each April at Riverside Park. Long-timers and newcomers to fishing could benefit from the fly tying and casting workshops, set among many tastefully selected vendors, food and music. Children usually get to release trout into the Kern River the same day.

If you enjoy music more than anything, perhaps you’d like to come up to Rivernook Campground for the annual Beer & Music Festival in October, which is a fundraiser for SOS Dog Rescue. Another music festival option is at Frandy Campground each September, where Notorious Entertainment holds the Kern River Rock ‘n’ Blues Fest each year.

If you prefer to think about history, come visit the Kern Valley Museum and Kern River Valley Historical Society for History Day, which they usually host in May. Activities during the event include demonstrations of blacksmithing and gold panning. Locals will demonstrate Dutch oven cooking, old-fashioned ice cream making and butter churning, then invite you to sample these treats.

Come to the Museum’s Tales on the Trails event held each November. The event is a celebration of the local historical people, with dramatizations teaching about what it was like in past years. You’ll learn about the local Indian tribes, pioneers, and important figures in local history.

These reenactments, which local volunteers portray in a family friendly environment, reveal the town’s origins as “Whiskey Flat” before it was moved due to the dam flooding the area.

Attain an even wider over view of Kernville’s origins by attending Whiskey Flat Days during President’s Day weekend annually, which is only one of Kernville’s many festivals at Circle Park. The Kernville Chamber of Commerce goes all out to take you back to the 1800s with a Whiskey Flat Days mayor election that is actually a fundraiser for local nonprofits. The event includes a parade, costume contests for you and your pet, dog races, a rodeo at McNally Arena, and a carnival at Riverside Park, Valentine’s Day and President’s Day weekend.

You can also experience a visit to the Whiskey Flat Encampment that provides several days of reenactments to get the full effect of your visit to the past. Reenactors reveal what the original Kernville was like in the 1800s.

Take a walk by the river and enjoy a picnic or play day at Riverside Park for safe swimming and inner tubing, basketball, and a playground.

The chamber also holds a Fall Festival with a pumpkin patch and a “Christmas in Kernville” holiday lights display during the holidays.

There in Circle Park you will also find the works of local artisans from the Kern River Valley Art Association’s (KRVAA’s) Labor Day Arts & Crafts Festival and their Memorial Day Arts & Crafts Festival.

The Second Saturday of every month, June through September, visit Kernville Chamber’s Saturday in the Park, with live music, vendors, and food in Circle Park.

Those of you who like to explore cemeteries may want to take a jaunt through the local Historical Cemetery on your way into Wofford Heights and visit the graves of local founders. The historical society also gives tours during Whiskey Flat Days weekend.

If that’s not enough, come enjoy some art classes at the Art and Community Center that the KRVAA built in Wofford Heights. Within the center is an art gallery with monthly receptions for themed showings. The KRVAA also has a coffee shop at the Station and an industrial arts center, “Alchemy.”

Visit gift, book, and souvenir shops in the quaint town of Wofford Heights that includes a tattoo artist, and an oddity shop.

The French Gulch is another place to begin or end a day of vigorous activity with jet skiing, water skiing, and wind surfing. It is located in a cove along Lake Isabella’s west shore, just above the dam. The marina has about 100 slips and rents pontoon boats, kayaks and fishing boats. It also has a general store with bait, tackle, snacks, beverages, and ice, also offering oil and gas.

Farther down Highway 155, Keysville is a historic mining area of interest to history buffs, with an array of recreational opportunities. The setting, which the lower Kern River divides, has rolling terrain and pines. During exploration one can see the famous Walker Cabin, a variety of mining structures, and a historic fort.

Keysville offers white-water rafting, fishing, gold panning, and dispersed camping. Far- reaching trails provide equestrian paths, mountain biking, and motorized recreation uses.

With that, your trip around Lake Isabella is complete.