Construction began on a road through the Kern Canyon in the mid 1890’s. This road was built by Edison Electric for constructing their Kern River #1 powerhouse between 1902 and 1907. Materials needed to construct the facility were transported using 20-mule teams across rough terrain and up steep, narrow mountain roads carved out with picks and shovels. We rode out and back on this historic road one sunny hot day.
Old Kern Canyon Road is carved impossibly through rocky cliffs with a raging Kern River smashing through the canyon below. There used to be a flurry of activity along this stretch of road with campgrounds, hot springs, resorts and tourism. We passed by Miracle Hot Springs (formerly known as or located near the historic Hobo Hot Springs area). The US Forest Service officially demolished the tubs and closed the area, with a current forest order extending the closure from January 31, 2026, to February 1, 2028, due to safety, vandalism, and sanitation issues. Apparently 2 dead bodies were found in the hot springs!
We started our ride near the Borel powerplant at the start of the road and headed towards Bakersfield. The whole ride was around 23 miles with just under 1500′ of climbing…so an incredibly pleasant spin. There aren’t really any steep climbs, just a general grade and some rolling. It’s so pretty out there but I had to marvel at how dangerous this road would be with as the old highway. It is evident that there are often mudslides and rockslides. Yikes! This is an out and back and we turned around when the old road met the main highway up from Bakersfield.
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