CA 58 East, CA 184 To CA 202, Bakersfield To Tehachapi

[wilzchau]

How long does it take to drive from Bakersfield to Tehachapi?

[YusefX1]

Absolutely gorgeous drive freeway brent, great vid and ty for sharing! I've never driven this route but I love those south Sierra Nevada views and the transition from valley farmland, to foothills, to an eventual high desert landscape right at the end of the vid. Can't wait for the 2nd part! Do you know the ETA on that vid?

[540tony]

Well I guess Bruces Truck Stop is still open the Scottsman Restaurant Hway 58 and Weed Patch Road. Most noted back 1986 for the most beautiful waitresess hand picked like out a magazine wearing Scottish Kilts. Ultra mini skirts OMG! Shit you could unload in Oakland shit freaking anywhere in California you would drive to Weed Patch Road and Hway 58.

[jfs1988]

I passed through here last week from San Bernardino. I was going to Yuba City and wanted to see if this highway was faster than taking Interstate 5 through the Grapevine and Tejon Pass. The traffic was light through the Mojave Desert area, but the highway gets pretty curvy with tough terrain after passing Tehachipi.

[dvferyance]

It would be nice to see CA 99 as I-7 and CA 58 as a west extension of I-40 then Bakersfield would have 2 interstates and while I-40 would still not be coast to coast this would at least bring it closer.

[carlylecastle]

Great video, good to see the land has green fields, instead of brown like it usually is in Bakersfield

[BrainEatingApe]

It's a beautiful drive - almost as beautiful as the Tejon Pass / Grapevine drive just to the south.

[rare12inchsingles]

I miss Big Daddy's restaurant at Four Corners (US 395 and CA 58 junction)

[FreewayBrent]

@rare12inchsingles: Big Daddy's? Never heard of it. When did it close up shop? My first time on CA 58 was in 2001.

[rare12inchsingles]

@FreewayBrent Big Daddy's was located on the southwestern corner of the 395/58 intersection..When I went through there in 1998 it was still there..I went back in 2000 and it was gone..It was a independantly owned truckers style restaurant and it was the only place to eat at that location..I believe the name was changed to Kramer Junction, but before it was called Four Corners.

[rare12inchsingles]

@FreewayBrent ..Did you ever travel 58 when it went through the town of Mojave? I know that new bypass was built sometime early in the decade, but the exact year escapes me.

[FreewayBrent]

@rare12inchsingles: Yup yup, and sometimes I'll still go into town to filler up on gas. If I'm not mistaken, I think the bypass opened up to traffic in 2005?

[interstateruler]

@rare12inchsingles Never seen Big Daddy's but I actually seen Roadhouse Cafe at Four Corners

[rare12inchsingles]

I always make it a point to stop at the Tehachapi Loop..It's an engineering landmark watching long freight drags cross over itself..

[FluffyJetProductions]

Awesome footage...beautiful landscapes! Fantastic work Brent! Keep it up!

[FreewayBrent]

@FluffyJetProductions: I don't think I saw this until now? Hey, I appreciate the feedback. Glad you enjoyed the video.

[SWSWX]

I have relatives who live in Bakersfield and i drive this route all the time to get there from Corona (I-15 north/US395 north/58 west and back again)

[FreewayBrent]

@SWSWX: Ahhh okay, cool. Yeah, I don't drive this route too often; mainly when I'm traversing between Northern California and Vegas, but I intentionally went out of the way on this particular day to film CA 58 (the eastern half of the Tehachapi Pass is to be featured in a future video).

Thanks for watching.

[SWSWX]

@FreewayBrent I enjoy this route better than driving through the city and up over Tejon Pass. It's less traffic and i love the scenery better through the desert and Tehachapi

[QuasiTraction]

Thanks for posting this, I traveled this way about a year ago on my way to Las Vegas from Portland, OR.

[FreewayBrent]

@QuasiTraction: Wow, that's quite a drive. I'll try to get going on posting my Portland-area footage soon.

[prfsnlwannabe]

Awesome expressway, this is definitely one of the more interesting non-urban expressways I've seen you film. Song was pretty good as well. I certainly hope to one day have time to drive CA 58, whenever I make it to California.

How often does the California Highway Patrol have to close CA 58 through the Tehachapi Pass each year?

[FreewayBrent]

@prfsnlwannabe: Not too often, probably once a year. Yes, it's definitely a lot of fun to drive CA 58 over the Tehachapi Pass, my next video of CA 58 will show the rapid transformation to full-blown desert.

[patrick560sl]

Pimpin music and video! as always! 'like'

[FreewayBrent]

@patrick560sl: Thanks!

[FreewayTitan]

Isn't that the largest wind farm in the US? That is huge, and adds to the already nice scenery. I enjoyred the ride! Hey, I have a question too: this summer we will be driving from I-80 in Sacremento south to LA, would you suggest we take I-5 or CA99? we don't want it to be too boring, yet we don't want to be in traffic all day!

[FreewayBrent]

@FreewayTitan: Nah, I'm sure the wind farms in Texas are larger.

Between the Stockton/Tracy area (35 - 50 miles south of Sacramento) and the Grapevine, the main advantage of I-5 is that you can generally push it up to 77/78 MPH, without getting pulled over. However, the mileage is mostly the same as CA 99. Only in Sacramento, do you run the risk of running into severely congested traffic (on some days, it can take up to 80 minutes to traverse the 15 miles, south of US 50)...

[FreewayBrent]

@FreewayTitan: ..., otherwise, you shouldn't hit any major traffic jams. You can expect a few miles of slow-and-go thru Modesto, and again thru Fresno and Bakersfield, but that's only if you arrive during absolute peak times. Also, there's HOV lanes thru Sacramento (expect these to be partially congested, too). I'd seriously recommend CA 99 over I-5; there's worthwhile diversions in downtown Modesto, the Tower District along the Olive Ave exit in Fresno, and downtown Visalia, via CA 198.

[rare12inchsingles]

@FreewayTitan I-5 between Stockton and the grapevine is completely boring. All you will see is a TA travel plaza in santa Nella (about 2 hrs south of Stockton), Harris Ranch feed lot near Coalinga (hold your nose during the summer months), and the occasional fast food/gas stations..At least on 99 you go through towns and I have never had traffic issues..Perhaps in Fresno during the peak of rush hour.

[FreewayTitan]

@rare12inchsingles Actually we are taking US-395. Very scenic XD

[rare12inchsingles]

@FreewayTitan It must be a very nice drive..I've been on some stretches of 395. I have never been on 395 between CA 58 North to Carson City..I hear Owens Valley is a beautiful stretch.

[dossmanos8]

Great video brother- Been thru 58 a couple of times. Lived in Barstow for 2 years. Endless desert heat- Ft. Irwin and Peggy Sue's .Endless truck stops and and endless semi-trucks.

[FreewayBrent]

@dossmanos8: Yeah, it's definitely quite a fun drive. I was going to work on the section between Tehachapi and CA 14 & Mojave, but the hard drive on my main laptop crashed (I keep my videos on external drives), so it may be a little while before I can edit and annotate my footage.

[Freewayjim]

Wow, awesome scenery and that looks like a FUN road to drive, nice!

[adogg619]

The sloping green hills add a really nice touch. I've never driven the 58, but would like to one day.

[FreewayBrent]

@adogg619: Well perhaps this video will inspire you to leave the L.A. basin for a weekend. :)

[Bryant5493]

Nice video, but what's a wind farm?

[lastfire42]

@Bryant5493 A wind farm is a collection of wind mills that generate Electricity a fairly large one is found on Interstate 10 west of palm springs

[Bryant5493]

@lastfire42

Okay, thanks.

[MazdaStrider]

When will these upgrades be done to CA 58 so it can become a westward extension of I-40?

[FreewayBrent]

@MazdaStrider: It's really hard to say. In all honesty, I don't expect to see the freeway extension to I-5 to happen for who knows how long...another 20 - 40 years? It's possible that a local transportation sales tax in Kern County (where Bakersfield lies within) could allocate new funds toward a new freeway between I-5 and CA 99, much sooner.

However, the upgrades between Mojave and Barstow could end up being completed within the next 10 to 15 years.

[booklover691]

Very scenic and great video even with the new problems in uploading. Having traveled through a lot of the lower 48 states myself I will have to agree that CA has most of the scenic features of a heck of a lot of states packed into one :).

[FreewayBrent]

@booklover691: Heck, the uploading is nothing, compared to the new annotation system they put into place. Imagine trying to annotate your video that's the equivalent to 180p (extremely blurry) in a small screen. I really REALLY hope this is just a Beta version, 'cause otherwise, YouTube did a terrible job with their revised website.

[IsoscelesKramer]

You picked the perfect day to film this. I love how the mountains slowly materialize on the horizon...

[FreewayBrent]

@IsoscelesKramer: You're absolutely right; the southern half of the Central Valley is usually covered in a thick layer of smog, at its absolute worst along the length of CA 58, featured in this video. However, it had been windy & stormy in the days leading up to me filming this, and the sun finally broke out on the day that I happened to be driving back up to Northern California. It'll be a long time before I see it that clear and relatively smog-free again!

[PanzerVIZeke]

Look our great state. California=FTW

(Other states WISH they were as beautiful as that)

[FreewayBrent]

@PanzerVIZeke: haha, well, I'm not going to pick sides. There's really a lot of great scenery, no matter where you go. Oregon and Washington State has some spectacular scenery as well. New Hampshire and Vermont has some really nice mountainous scenery, and of course, there's no need to explain about Colorado. But yeah, California has the most diverse scenery and geography in the lower 48, bar none.

[ScrewdUPClickV2]

very nice . i liked the beginning section better , with the hills and the green grass , that was awesome

[ervin2]

Awesome views... I mean holy shit.

[FreewayBrent]

@ervin2: If you think this is nice, just wait until I start showcasing Interstate 80 over the Sierra Nevada!

[eluko79]

Wow thats an awesome route! Looked like Ireland with mountains.

[ChallengeDK]

Wow. Absolutely stunningly beautiful!