Location: Visalia, CA
Parking: Riverway Sports Park…lots of parking available, nice park.
Trail Condition: Wonderful asphalt trail condition, new. This is a very wide trail, wide enough for a vehicle to easily drive it and some were but not a problem.
Signage: Informational and regulatory signs but no directional signs, which aren’t really needed.
Comments: Started from the western end Riverway Sports Park. This trail is wide and nice new surface, very easy to ride two abreast with plenty of room. A couple of underpasses avoid having to cross any roads, these parts of the trail are concrete and also very wide and nicely done. After the first section of trail of being in the open and construction of a large housing development to the side it then gets into the trees and more shade. All along following beside the dry river bed. While a previous reviewer mentioned a “no-go zone”, there certainly is a part of the trail with many encampments along the river bed, we passed through during the afternoon and certainly felt safe enough. It is an unfortunate condition. If wanting to avoid this part of the trail, start at St. Johns Park off of Ben Maddox Way and travel east. From this park the trail is more scenic with a lot of trees and a few small parks along it. At the eastern end of the trail, the trail makes a small circle and implies start of this trail. We continued east into Cutler Park to the actual end, as mapped on Trail Link. On the trail we encountered walkers and only a couple bikers, this was during the middle of a weekday. Of the two trails we did in Visalia, this is the preferred trail.

Location: Bakersfield, CA
Parking: The Park at River Walk & Kern River Parkway park
Trail Condition: Excellent wide asphalt pathway. Well maintained.
Signage: No directional route signage. We did have to stop at one location and review our map. Otherwise route is mostly obvious. There is plenty of “rules” signage. Would be a nice improvement to provide directional route signage.
Comments: We rode this in two sections. First starting at the “Park at the River” and riding south to the trail end. This portion of the trail enters the open space/ground water banking area outside of town. The wide trail gets away from traffic and city noise. We spotted roadrunners, a coyote, and lots of other birds and animals along the trail. Every so far are some benches and at one time had some sort of emergency phone system but they are in the process of removing. A number of other cyclists were encountered on the trail, most offered a wave or friendly hi. Back in the urban part of the trail a number of walkers were also on the trail. Obviously a popular trail.
Section two started at Kern River Parkway park and traveled north. Trail remained mostly in good condition. Since this section goes through the main part of the city the scenery is as can be expected with housing, traffic, and shelters in the trees along the river bed. Once passed through the urban setting the trail is a little bit more “country” but isn’t nearly as long as the southern end of the trail. Plenty of folks out enjoying a sunny Saturday afternoon on the trail.
Highly recommend the southern portion of the trail.

I walk this path every day. There are two new sections, one at each end so it's much longer than the 1.4. I would like to know the distance myself. There are water fountains that include dog basins. It a nice pleasant walk. Many people bike and or run.

Started from the Riverway Sports Park which was very nice with much greenery for an October day. We hit the trail and as expected this newly paved trail made its way into the surrounding desert scenery. How wonderful to have such a trail in this town. There are several options to side trails along the way. Now for the bad news... the no go zones. Sprawling homeless encampments all along the St John riverbed, laundry hung out on the trail benches to dry, garbage can rummaging all along the trails. Ride at your own risk

The west end of this trail was recently extended to reach Highway 63. Visitors can park in the Riverway Sports Park and walk to the trail head.

This is a very well maintained bike trail. The western section is very rural for the last 8 or 10 miles - not terribly scenic but there are tons of rabbits, ground squirrels, roadrunners and hawks to entertain you. It is an easy, flat ride. We parked at Yokuts Park and rode west to the end. Next time, we'd like to ride the eastern end of the trail.

Trail closed at Allen Road.
3/17/17

I have been doing this trail since I moved to Bakersfield 24 years ago. Mostly flat, and in the summer it is very hot. The city keeps the trail clean. There are emergency call phones about every mile. There is water in the developed areas, but if you go to the west there is no water on the west end 8 mile stretch. If you have the desire, you can bike from about I-5 in the valley, all the way to Lake Ming, about 28 miles one-way.

the variations in landscape scenery are adorable.