Walker Pass (el. ) is a mountain pass by Lake Isabella in the southern Sierra Nevada. It is located in northeastern Kern County, approximately 53 mi (85 km) ENE of Bakersfield and 10 mi (16 km) WNW of Ridgecrest. The pass provides a route between the Kern River Valley and San Joaquin Valley on the west, and the Mojave Desert on the east.
Walker Pass is a National Historic Landmark, and is under the stewardship of the Bureau of Land Management.
History
Walker Pass was charted as a route through the Sierra in 1834 by Joseph Rutherford Walker and Garland Guthary, members of the Bonneville Expedition who learned of it from Native Americans. Walker returned through the pass in 1843, leading an immigrant wagon train into California. In 1845 the military surveying expedition of John C. Fremont used the pass. He suggested it be named after Walker.
Walker Pass was used in 1861 by cattlemen from the San Joaquin Valley and the Tejon region of the Tehachapi mountains to drive cattle to the silver boomtown of Aurora near Mono Lake.
The Walker Pass Lodge was built nearby in the 1930s and was a well-known rest stop before burning down around 1990.
Aside from the paved road, the pass is essentially unaltered since Walker mapped it in 1834.
See also
- List of Sierra Nevada road passes
- California Historical Landmarks in Kern County, California
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Kern County, California
References
External links
- BLM management plan for Walker Pass National Historic Landmark
- Walker Pass Campground, Bureau of Land Management