5 Best Desert Hiking Trails in Kern County, From a Hollywood Filming Backdrop to a Volunteer-Built Hot Spring
Kern County’s desert side is a genuinely different landscape than the Southern Sierra trails covered elsewhere in the county, colorful eroded badlands, a high-desert wilderness where the Mojave meets the Sierra, and a hot spring built by hand along the Kern River. Elevation and terrain shift dramatically across this short list, from sea-level-adjacent desert floor to nearly 8,500 feet at Owens Peak. This guide is part of our full Kern County hiking guide.
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One search note worth flagging: if you’re looking specifically for California’s Red Rock Canyon, make sure you’re not accidentally reading about the much more famous Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas, they’re unrelated places that happen to share a name. Exploring the premier Desert Hiking Trails in Kern County ensures you avoid tourist confusion while experiencing California’s raw, hidden badlands.
Key takeaways
- Most cinematic: Hagen Canyon, colorful eroded cliffs that have appeared in more than 100 films and TV productions, from classic Westerns to Jurassic Park.
- Most protected formations: Red Cliffs Natural Preserve, the park’s most dramatic cliffs, under extra protection given their fragility.
- Best desert-to-mountain transition: Owens Peak Wilderness, a genuine ecological boundary where the Mojave Desert meets the Sierra Nevada, crossed by the Pacific Crest Trail.
- Best rock formations and solitude: Chimney Creek, granite domes and a namesake rock chimney in high-desert piñon-juniper woodland.
- Best hands-on soak: Remington Hot Springs, volunteer-built stone pools directly beside the Kern River.
- Three of these trails (Hagen Canyon, Red Cliffs) are inside a fee-based state park; Owens Peak, Chimney Creek, and Remington Hot Springs are all free BLM or Forest Service land.
How these five Kern County desert trails compare
| Trail | Distance | Difficulty | Fee/Permit | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hagen Canyon Trail | ~1.2-3.5 mi (route-dependent) | Easy-moderate | State park day-use fee | Film history, colorful cliffs |
| Red Cliffs Natural Preserve | Short | Easy | State park day-use fee | Most protected formations |
| Owens Peak Wilderness | Variable (PCT-adjacent) | Moderate | Free | Desert-to-mountain transition |
| Chimney Creek Trail | Variable | Moderate | Free | Granite domes, solitude |
| Remington Hot Springs | ~0.3-0.4 mi round trip | Easy (steep) | Free | Riverside hot spring soaking |
Hagen Canyon Trail (Red Rock Canyon State Park)
Trailhead access and parking at Red Rock Canyon State Park (day-use fee)
A $6 per-vehicle day-use fee applies at this 27,000-acre Mojave Desert state park directly off Highway 14, about two hours from Los Angeles, one of the most accessible desert trailheads in this entire guide.
What you’ll see: colorful eroded cliffs once used as a Western film backdrop
Hagen Canyon’s dramatically banded red, white, and gray cliffs, capped with a layer of black lava, have served as a backdrop for more than 100 films and TV productions since the 1930s, including Westerns like Zorro Rides Again and The Big Country, and later hits like The Ten Commandments, Planet of the Apes, and Jurassic Park.
The marked trail runs about 1.2 miles, though off-trail exploration and ranger-led hikes commonly extend the outing to 2 or even 3.5 miles, passing a 90-foot dry waterfall along the way.
Best time to hike Hagen Canyon: cooler months, fully exposed desert terrain
This trail has essentially no shade anywhere along it, making cool-season timing a genuine safety consideration rather than just a comfort preference, summer heat here is serious, not a minor inconvenience.
Red Cliffs Natural Preserve Trail (Red Rock Canyon State Park)
Trailhead access and parking at the Red Cliffs Natural Preserve
A short additional drive from the main Hagen Canyon day-use area leads to this separate, more protected section of the same state park, the same day-use fee covers both areas.
What you’ll see: the park’s most dramatic cliff formations under extra protection
Red Cliffs holds the park’s most striking, most photographed formations, vivid iron-oxide-red cliffs and columns rising up to 300 feet, protected with additional restrictions given their significance and fragility relative to the more general-use Hagen Canyon area.
Best time to hike Red Cliffs Natural Preserve: sunrise or sunset for the most vivid color
Low-angle light dramatically intensifies the natural banding and color in these cliffs, genuinely one of the better sunrise or sunset photography stops in this part of the Mojave.
Owens Peak Wilderness Trail
Trailhead access and parking near Highway 178, Walker Pass area
A free BLM trailhead near Walker Pass Campground serves this wilderness area, where the Pacific Crest Trail.
What you’ll see: a high-desert transition zone between the Mojave and the Sierra
This is a genuine ecological boundary, where Mojave Desert scrub gradually gives way to Sierra Nevada foothill terrain, a landscape distinct from the pure desert badlands of Red Rock Canyon, with peaks including Owens Peak itself (8,400 feet) rising above the transition zone.
Best time to hike Owens Peak Wilderness: spring and fall for comfortable temperatures
This high-desert elevation profile makes shoulder-season timing considerably more comfortable than either a hot summer or a genuinely cold winter attempt.
Chimney Creek Trail (Chimney Peak Recreation Area)
Trailhead access and parking at Chimney Peak Recreation Area
A free BLM recreation area trailhead sits near the southern end of the Sierra Nevada, close to where northbound Pacific Crest Trail hikers first enter the true Sierra near Kennedy Meadows, the access road is rough, and high clearance is a real advantage.
What you’ll see: granite domes and a historic namesake rock chimney formation
Distinctive granite dome formations, including the namesake rock chimney feature, rise from a high-desert piñon-juniper woodland landscape, genuinely different scenery than the sedimentary badlands of Red Rock Canyon, set within a rugged, sparsely visited 105,000-acre recreation area.
Best time to hike Chimney Creek Trail: spring and fall, extreme temperature swings
This high-desert area sees significant day-to-night and season-to-season temperature swings, shoulder seasons offer the most consistently comfortable conditions, since summer days and winter nights can both be genuinely extreme here.
Remington Hot Springs Trail (Kern River)
Trailhead access and parking along the Kern River Canyon
A free dirt pullout along Kern River Canyon Road serves this trail, the shortest approach of any hot spring featured on this site, though parking is limited and fills quickly.
What you’ll see: riverside soaking pools along the Kern River
Volunteers built several stone soaking tubs directly above the Kern River here, with temperatures decreasing from the hottest pool down to a cooler “Miner’s Pool” set back from the bank, letting you alternate between hot mineral water and a cold dip in the river itself.
Informal clothing-optional customs exist at this undeveloped site, though swimsuits are technically required under federal land regulations, and rangers do occasionally patrol.
Best time to hike Remington Hot Springs: weekdays for the fewest crowds
This is one of the last free, undeveloped hot springs left in the Kern River Valley, and it shows in the visitor numbers, while nearby shoreline spots covered in our Lake Isabella outdoor guide provide plenty of space to spread out on busy weekends, since weekends bring real crowds and a scramble for the limited parking.
Frequently asked questions about desert hiking trails in Kern County
Were movies filmed at Red Rock Canyon State Park?
Yes, more than 100 films and TV productions have used the park’s colorful cliffs as a backdrop since the 1930s, including Jurassic Park, Planet of the Apes, The Ten Commandments, and classic Westerns like The Big Country.
Is there a fee at Red Rock Canyon State Park?
Yes, a $6 per-vehicle day-use fee applies, covering both the Hagen Canyon and Red Cliffs Natural Preserve areas.
Is Owens Peak Wilderness near the Pacific Crest Trail?
Yes, the Owens Peak segment of the PCT runs directly through this wilderness area, beginning at Walker Pass in Kern County.
What is the Chimney Peak rock formation?
It’s a distinctive rock chimney feature that gives the surrounding recreation area its name, part of a broader landscape of granite domes in high-desert piñon-juniper woodland.
Is Remington Hot Springs crowded on weekends?
Yes, genuinely, it’s one of the last free, undeveloped hot springs in the Kern River Valley, and parking fills quickly on busy days. Weekday mornings are your best bet for a quiet visit.
Which Kern County desert trail is easiest to reach?
Hagen Canyon Trail, with its paved-highway access and day-use parking directly off Highway 14, the most straightforward trailhead to find in this entire guide.
