Walker Pass

A National Historic Landmark. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. 11 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1906.

From the record

“Walker Pass 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.”
Wikipedia article Walker Pass, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 23 National Register listings published here for Kern County · listed in 1966 · category: Site · a National Historic Landmark.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

Address. 60 mi. NE of Bakersfield on CA 178, Bakersfield, 93255
When was it listed? October 1966
Category. site
Census division. Lake Isabella
National Register reference number. 66000210 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

32 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 32 fires within 5 miles of Walker Pass between 1994 and 2020, burning about 2,810 acres in total. 17 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Natural	17
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	6
Equipment and vehicle use	4
Recreation and ceremony	1
Misuse of fire by a minor	1
Fireworks	1
Other causes	1
Debris and open burning	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
13 September 2000	Misuse of fire by a minor	under an acre	California Desert District	PASS
6 August 2006	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	California Desert District	WALKER
6 August 2005	Natural	28 acres	Sequoia National Forest	WALKER
6 August 2005	Natural	under an acre	Sequoia National Forest	PINYON
31 August 1998	Natural	under an acre	California Desert District	ROBBERS
28 August 2005	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	2.4 acres	Central California District	NONAME
27 August 2011	Natural	24 acres	Sequoia National Forest	CANEBREAK
24 August 1999	Natural	under an acre	Sequoia National Forest	JACKS

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 21 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 21 workings within 5 miles of Walker Pass: 11 past producers, 6 occurrences, 2 prospects, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Tungsten, Gold, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Tungsten, Gold. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Long John	Silver, Zinc, Lead	Past Producer
Magnolia & Pyavin	Tungsten, Gold	Past Producer	Scheelite
Paradise Claims	Iron	Occurrence
Canebrake Pit and Mill	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Canebrake Pit and Mill	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Fernandez Group	Tungsten, Gold	Past Producer
Ladd Pit and Mill	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Ladd Pit and Mill	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Magnolia Mine	Tungsten, Gold	Past Producer
Nadeau Mine	Gold	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this property

48 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bakersfield, the town this property stands in, in 48 storm reports between 1995 and 2023: 14 flood, 11 heavy rain, 5 hail, 4 wildfire. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
August 1997	Wildfire	Bakersfield	1 hurt, $400,000	Two homes destroyed and 4000 acres of grassland were burned.
May 1998	Lightning	Bakersfield	1 hurt	While on the phone an office manager was mildly electrocuted due to a nearby lightning strike and the resulting electrical surge through the phone line.
January 2011	Flood	Bakersfield	$12,700,000	Kern County estimated damage from the storms of December 17th to January 2nd at 12.7 million dollars.
February 1998	Heavy Rain	Bakersfield	$12,500,000	no account filed
June 2001	Wildfire	Bakersfield	$565,000	The Democrat Wildfire was ignited by unknown cause and burned 550 acres before being contained with no fatalities or structures lost. The cost to contain was $565K.
May 1998	Flash Flood	Bakersfield	$250,000	no account filed
March 1997	Flood	Bakersfield	$150,000	no account filed
June 2002	Wildfire	Bakersfield	$110,000	The Rocky Fire originated from unknown causes and burned 498 acres. No structures were lost nor were there any fatalities or injuries.
May 1998	Flood	Bakersfield	$100,000	no account filed
June 2003	Wildfire	Bakersfield	$55,000	The Shallock Fire was of human origin and burned about 564 acres before containment. No structure was lost nor were injuries or fatalities reported.
February 2010	Heavy Rain	Bakersfield	$50,000	Local media reported 1 foot deep water due to heavy rainfall at Airport Dr just north of State Rd. Three vehicles encountered the deep water and become stuck. Street flooding also reported on Fairfax Rd at Brundage Ave.
March 1997	Lightning	Bakersfield	$50,000	no account filed
February 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Bakersfield	$35,000	A large tree was uprooted and totaled a car due to thunderstorm winds. Location was at Jenkins and Rosedale.
November 2002	Flood	Bakersfield	$23,000	no account filed
February 1997	Tornado (F0)	Bakersfield	$10,000	no account filed
March 2012	Flood	Bakersfield	$6,000	California highway patrol reported flooding on Michelle Avenue at Shawn Street.
April 1999	Tornado (F0)	Bakersfield	$3,000	With strong gradient wind and some convective activity, a cold air funnel touched down briefly in Southeast Bakersfield near Pacheco Road and Kaiser Court. A few small trees were downed along with damage to a small shed.
February 2023	Flood	Bakersfield	-	California Highway Patrol reported all lanes of eastbound SR 178 at Union Ave in Bakersfield were flooded. Several vehicles hydroplaned.
January 2018	Flood	Bakersfield	-	Pictures indicating roadway flooding in downtown Bakersfield near the intersection on Union Ave. and Truxton Ave. were received on Facebook and Twitter.
January 2018	Flood	Bakersfield	-	Pictures indicating roadway flooding on 23rd St. in downtown Bakersfield were received on Facebook and Twitter.
January 2018	Flood	Bakersfield	-	Pictures indicating the courthouse parking lot in Bakersfield was flooded were received on Facebook and Twitter.
January 2015	Heavy Rain	Bakersfield	-	Rainfall amounts of 0.5 to 1 inch in 24 hours over the Kern county produced ponding of water/flooding on roadways in the south end of the San Joaquin Valley, in and south of Bakersfield. The flooded areas included part of Highway 99 between Rosedale Highway and Olive Drive in Bakersfield and Highway 119 near Buena Vista.
February 2015	Heavy Rain	Bakersfield	-	Rainfall amounts of 0.4 to 0.85 inches reported across the City of Bakersfield, including 0.52 inches at Meadows Field Airport. Rainfall resulted in ponding of water on roadways.
November 2014	Heavy Rain	Bakersfield	-	Roadway flooding due to heavy rain. Estimated rainfall 0.75 inches.
October 2014	Heavy Rain	Bakersfield	-	Roadway flooding due to heavy rain. Estimated rainfall 0.75 inches.
November 2013	Flood	Bakersfield	-	Law enforcement reported flooding at Tulare St and Columbus St.
November 2013	Heavy Rain	Bakersfield	-	Downtown Bakersfield had heavy rain with a total of 0.45 inches reported by local media outlets.
October 2004	Funnel Cloud	Bakersfield	-	Several spotter reports seem to indicate a funnel cloud passed over Bakersfield from the WNW early in the afternoon of the 20th.
July 2001	Flash Flood	Bakersfield	-	Spotter reports confirmed radar imagery that thunderstorm activity, from the Mexican Monsoon, brought very heavy rain to areas north of Bakersfield in the foothills on the western face of the Southern Sierra Nevada. Drainage ditches all filled on mountain roads with creeks rapidly rising to full. Rainfall rates reached 1.5-2.0"/hour in the area approximately 10 miles north of Bakersfield to 23 miles east of Delano in Kern County. In the 24 hour period ending at 5 PM PDT on the 6th, Valley floor rain amounts included 0.07" at Madera, Visalia 0.01", Porterville 0.08", with an unofficial report of up to 2" of rain between 1530-1700 PDT 10 miles north of Bakersfield to the Tulare County line.
January 1999	Funnel Cloud	Bakersfield	-	Trained spotter reported two funnels at this location.
April 1998	Flood	Bakersfield	-	While rains have stopped and temperatures climbed to near normal for a period in late April, the winter and spring's above normal rainfall/snowfall is resulting in not only rainfall runoff, some snowmelt contributions, but "springing" into the South Valley stream group of Caliente, Tejoh, sycomore, El Paso, and San Emigdio Creeks at the rate of 120CFS. Damage was sustained on roads and property with water collecting in low-lying areas, such as the ancient Kern Lake bed. As of late April 2,000 acres of farmland was under water in the South San Joaquin Valley in the area southeast of Bakersfield. As of April 27th the snowpack water content in the Southern Sierra Nevada was 190% of normal. From the Kern County Ag Commissioner's Office, data indicates that 75,000 to 100,000 acres of cotton may not be planted in Kern County due to the wet and cool field conditions.
February 1998	Flash Flood	Bakersfield	-	Heavy rainfall led to runoff and water over State Highway 166...a road typically affected by this type of runoff scenario.
March 1998	Hail	Bakersfield	-	As reported by California Highway Patrol between Laval Road and the scales on Interstate-5 at the base of the grapevine. 40-50 cars pulled over to wait for the storm to diminish.
December 1995	Hail	East Bakersfield	-	The SVR issued based on radar information, as previously described, for the period from 1519 PST until 1600 PST did provide some lead time. Additional one-inch hail was reported at 1530 PST in East Bakersfield by Kern County Emergency Management to NWSO San Joaquin Valley.
March 2005	Heavy Rain	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
December 2005	Heavy Rain	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
December 2003	Heavy Rain	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
March 2001	Lightning	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
March 2001	Flood	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
November 2001	Flood	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
April 2000	High Wind	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
September 1998	Lightning	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
May 1998	Heavy Rain	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
March 1998	Flood	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
February 1997	Hail	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
March 1997	Hail	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
November 1996	Tornado (F0)	Bakersfield	-	no account filed
October 1996	Hail	Bakersfield	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Kern County

Maps showing this location

11 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

1906 USGS Kernville quadrangle1:125000
1908 USGS Kernville quadrangle1:125000 - 6 printings
1943 USGS Onyx quadrangle1:62500 - 5 printings
1948 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1955 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
1956 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
1960 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1962 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000 - 4 printings
1966 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
1972 USGS Walker Pass quadrangle1:24000 - 4 printings
1978 USGS Isabella Lake quadrangle1:100000 - 2 printings

Listed places nearby

1 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph	Property	Distance	Listed
	Bandit Rock	6.6 miles	1975

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 66000210 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Kern County	All 23 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.