Tehachapi News

Tehachapi Traveler: Carrizo Plain: a piece of California frozen in time

When my wife and I were living in San Luis Obispo in the 1950s, one of our favorite weekend drives was to Carrizo Plain, a barely-inhabited expanse of flatland between the Temblor and La Panza ranges 60 miles to the east. At that time the Carrizo's primary claim to fame was the production of wheat and cattle. An elementary school and a tiny store were evidence that at least a few people lived in the quarter-million-acre region but otherwise there were almost no signs of human habitation.

Unlike most places in the state, Carrizo seemed to become even more depopulated as the years went by. The store was removed decades ago, although another has opened on the opposite end of the plain. For a short time somebody operated a solar power station there but it, too, has disappeared. At one point a real estate developer subdivided a portion of the Carrizo and called it California Valley. Fortunately for posterity it hasn't turned into another Los Angeles.
 
After moving to Kern County we retained our attachment to the Carrizo and often drove to the coast through there on Highway 58. We were always reassured to see that time wasn't making much impact on this unique vestige of ancient California.

At no time did we have any idea that other people felt the same affection we had for the Carrizo but, unlike us, many of them were doing something about it. These efforts paid off in 2001 when President Bill Clinton established the Carrizo Plain National Monument where today's public can look far back in time and see what much of California looked like before Columbus sailed west and nobody knew what a Big Mac was.

The federal Bureau of Land Management now has the lead role in overseeing the Carrizo and making it visitor-friendly. The BLM people are doing the best they can with the Carrizo but they readily admit they lack the resources to do everything the area deserves. Any reasonable person would have to agree, for example, that BLM lacks the funds to adequately protect this historic treasure against the kind of human jackasses that spray graffiti, vandalize structures and tear up sensitive terrain with motorized vehicles. We can only hope the remoteness of the Carrizo will discourage these destructive morons.

If your idea of a fun place involves ferris wheels and shopping malls the Carrizo is not for you. You need a special fondness for nature and history to bother going there. It's a long drive from Tehachapi, a little more than two hours, to see what the San Joaquin Valley looked like 150 years ago, before hordes of immigrants changed everything. The Carrizo also throws a spotlight on how native Americans lived in and around the coastal mountains several thousand years ago. But a scholastic background isn't required to enjoy the Carrizo, the American Serengeti as some have called it. If you're like me, it's rewarding enough sometimes just to soak in the aura of such an unusual place, one that seems stuck in time and space.

The Carrizo Plain “season” is between December and May when the flora and fauna are at their peak, the Guy L. Goodwin educational center is open and docents are available to answer questions and give lectures about the plain. My wife and I still remember with awe one trip through the Carrizo when the springtime wildflowers were in wild bloom. It was the most gorgeous display we have ever seen. Put this on your calendar for next April. Please.

Except for those who have extraordinary scientific curiosity, I suspect that most people will find that a drive through the Carrizo at any time of year will prove almost as satisfying as stopping at individual points of interests. Highway 58 is a comfortable but seldom-used route to the coast from Tehachapi but one that is a lot safer and more scenic than the speedway known as Highway 46 to the north. Just stay on 58 and you'll most likely agree that getting to the coast by this route is as inspiring as being on the coast. And you'll enjoy passing through the Carrizo, the portal to California's past and home of more endangered plants and animals than you'll find on any other chunk of real estate in California.

Larry Vredenburgh, a Tehachapi resident who works for BLM in Bakersfield and is involved in management of the Carrizo, said the San Andreas Fault, California's biggest earthquake feature, runs through the Carrizo and is visible on the surface. He said that when he and his family visit the Carrizo they go in via Highway 58, then go south on Soda Lake Road to Highway 166 for the return trip.

“Also we do have two improved camp grounds (in the Carrizo) and there is some limited open camping,” Vredenburgh said. “Staying the night there is a real treat. Lots of critters are out at night.”

For more detailed information, plug into “Carrizo Plain National Monument” on the Internet or call BLM personnel at 391-6000 in Bakersfield.