weekender.
Weekend trips from Cal State Bakersfield
Hidden spots near Bakersfield, day trips and weekend road trips from Cal State Bakersfield in November, scored 1–10 on price, timing and what's happening, with gas, park fees, a campsite or room and food included.
Plan your own trip from Cal State Bakersfield →Local finds near campus
Wind Wolves Preserve
The largest private preserve on the West Coast: tule elk, spring wildflowers and waterfalls after rain. Free.
Tehachapi Loop
A railroad spiral where a long freight train crosses over its own tail. Free; trains run all day.
Day trips
Pismo Beach & Oceano Dunes
Drive or sandboard on the only beach dunes you can camp on, then clam chowder in Pismo.
Calico Ghost Town
A silver-mining boomtown on the way to Vegas, with a mine you can walk into.
Kern River (Kernville)
Whitewater rafting through a granite canyon, a few hours from LA.
Carrizo Plain
An empty grassland that erupts in yellow and purple in a good spring, beside Soda Lake and Painted Rock.
Los Angeles
Griffith Observatory over the lights, Koreatown at midnight and the Broad's mirror rooms.
Ojai
An artsy valley known for its 'pink moment' sunset and an outdoor bookstore.
Weekend trips
Death Valley
Salt flats below sea level, rainbow-colored hills and the darkest night sky in California.
Palm Springs
Midcentury pool motels, palm oases in Indian Canyons and a rotating tram up the mountain.
Las Vegas (Nevada)
The Strip's free shows, the Neon Museum's sign boneyard and cheap Sunday-night rooms.
Kern River (Kernville)
Whitewater rafting through a granite canyon, a few hours from LA.
Morro Bay & Montaña de Oro
Sea otters under Morro Rock and wild bluff trails in Montaña de Oro.
Alabama Hills & Lone Pine
Free camping among the rock arches where hundreds of westerns were filmed, under Mount Whitney.
Long weekends
Mojave Preserve & Kelso Dunes
Booming sand dunes that hum when you slide down, and free camping under the stars.
Salvation Mountain & Salton Sea
A hand-painted hill, Slab City's off-grid art town and the eerie shores of the Salton Sea.
Death Valley
Salt flats below sea level, rainbow-colored hills and the darkest night sky in California.
Valley of Fire (Nevada)
Swirling red and pink sandstone, petroglyphs and the Fire Wave, an hour past Las Vegas.
Alabama Hills & Lone Pine
Free camping among the rock arches where hundreds of westerns were filmed, under Mount Whitney.
Palm Springs
Midcentury pool motels, palm oases in Indian Canyons and a rotating tram up the mountain.
Personalize it
Set your budget, how many friends are coming, your car (or no car: train and bus), and what you're into (hiking, beaches, camping, stargazing, food and more), and Weekender re-ranks every trip for you, with a day-by-day plan, directions and campsites.
Find my trips from Cal State Bakersfield →