Kern River Canyon lies in California’s Southern Sierra Nevada, where the Kern River carved a passage linking the Kern River Valley with the southern San Joaquin Valley. By connecting the mountains with the lower country to the west, it has long served as a natural route through the landscape. Today, California State Route 178, also called Kern Canyon Road, follows the river through the canyon from east of Bakersfield toward the Lake Isabella area. The canyon’s importance rests in both its striking mountain setting and its role as a transportation corridor created by the same river that formed it.