Porterville, CA Birding Trails and Maps

43 Reviews

Looking for the best Birding trails around Porterville?

Find the top rated birding trails in Porterville, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.

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Activities
Length
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8 Results
Activities
Length
Surfaces
Type

Kern River Parkway Trail

30.3 mi
State: CA
Asphalt

St. John's River Trail

3.8 mi
State: CA
Asphalt

Goshen Avenue Trail

5.8 mi
State: CA
Asphalt

Porterville Rails to Trails Parkway

1.3 mi
State: CA
Asphalt, Concrete

Reedley Rail-Trail

2.9 mi
State: CA
Asphalt

Santa Fe Trail (Visalia)

2.5 mi
State: CA
Asphalt

Orange Cove Rails to Trails

1.25 mi
State: CA
Asphalt

Santa Fe Trail (Tulare)

5 mi
State: CA
Asphalt, Dirt
Trail Image Trail Name States Length Surface Rating
Overview The Kern River Parkway Trail spans the east-west length of Bakersfield along the Kern River for 30.3 miles, a waterway that drains the Sierra Nevada range but is often dry by the time it...
CA 30.3 mi Asphalt
The St. John’s River Trail offers a tranquil atmosphere through a tree-dotted river valley to enjoy. Whether riding your bike or walking the paved trail, you are offered the opportunity to relax and...
CA 3.8 mi Asphalt
The Goshen Avenue Trail follows both W. Goshen Avenue and an active San Joaquin Valley Railroad freight line between Goshen and Visalia, serving as a convenient connection between the two towns....
CA 5.8 mi Asphalt
The Porterville Rails to Trails Parkway is a short converted right-of-way of the San Joaquin Valley Railroad through the town of Porterville. The arrow-straight trail runs between Walnut and Henderson...
CA 1.3 mi Asphalt, Concrete
The Reedley Rail-Trail is a multiuse trail built along railbanked right-of-way that provides an alternate route to access some of Reedley's busiest arterial streets. The path largely traverses the...
CA 2.9 mi Asphalt
Visalia's Santa Fe Trail extends south from the core of the city to its rural agricultural fringes. The northern half of the trail occupies a former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad corridor...
CA 2.5 mi Asphalt
Orange Cove Rails to Trails is a pleasant, albeit short, pathway that runs diagonally through the small city of Orange Cove. The trail passes through James O. Eaton Memorial Park and provides...
CA 1.25 mi Asphalt
The 19th-century railroad-building boom brought the town of Tulare into existence in California’s Central Valley. More than 100 years later, the town transformed a former railroad spur into the Santa...
CA 5 mi Asphalt, Dirt

Recent Trail Reviews

St. John's River Trail

St John’s Parkway Trail

February, 2024 by janinebop

Lovely paved , tree lined in areas, great view of river ( when flowing), and mountains. Excellent for walking or riding bikes. Nice to walk your dog, too.

Kern River Parkway Trail

Central Valley Joy Ride

January, 2024 by dmurphy52

Traveling by car through the Central Valley over a hundred times during the past fifty years, I've never paused to ride a bicycle in Bakersfield. Mistake! The Kern River Parkway Trail is a way above average opportunity to take a break from the monotony of Highway 99 or I-5, get in a good ride, and get back in your car with the invigoration that a two-wheeled adventure virtually always brings.

I did the length of the trail in two parts. Daty 1, headed south to SoCal on 99, I parked at Yokuts Park (plenty of parking, easily accessible off 99) and rode east. The trail itself is wide, and smooth, well maintained, and without safety concerns. Specifically, though homelessness has been mentioned in previous posts about this path, no encampments encroached onto the path, and homeless folks numbered less than ten over the roughly sixtteen mile round trip. I got a bit confused at Manor St. : stay right, look for the narrow tunnel that goes under the street. The hills mentioned in the official description and previous posts are not steep, easily negotiable by even a mildly fit rider. I did not ride the streets to the disconnected far east portion of the trail, but will next time

On my return trip headed back home (Merced) on 99, I parked again at Yokuts Park, and headed west for a 28 mile round trip ride to the western end of the trail. What a delight! Again, the trail was wide, clean, traveling largely along water, safe, for all ages and levels of riders. Previous postings about tumble weeds....didn't see any. Again, no street crossings, as the path uses underpasses for all roads, a marvelous piece of engineering. If you're a birder, bring your binoculars, you'll be travelling along extensive wetlands. The trail drops about 400 feet in elevation over 14 miles, hardly noticeable going either downstream along the Kern, or upstream on the way back. My sense of public safety seemed to be confirmed by the many families that I encountered on foot or on bikes. The speedster bicyclists were polite, and the width of the path made it easy for the tortoises and the hares, the pedestirans and the dog walkers to get along.

This path is a beauty, an achievement of forward thinking and an excellent investment in the public good. It's easily accessible from either I-5 or Highway 99. If you're passing through Bakersfield, you'll be richly rewarded by pausing to try it out. I rode it in January (58 degrees), for summer riders, be well prepared for the heat, which can be lethal.

Kern River Parkway Trail

Nice Trail but….

November, 2023 by tntdavis

It’s a nice, paved trail but lots of homeless camped along it and have large dogs off leash. Also lots of garbage…Bakersfield needs to clean it up. Also never have seen such a squirrel infestation as their parks have

Accordion

Kern River Parkway Trail

I have ridden this trail all the way. It is a very good trail,but from Enos Lane to Buena Vista Lake, it needs the tumble weeds cleaned up and from Hwy 119 to Buena Vista Lake all the broken glass and trash cleaned up to bring it up to par.

September, 2023 by tleetan

I have ridden this trail all the way. It is a very good trail,but from Enos Lane to Buena Vista Lake, it needs the tumble weeds cleaned up and from Hwy 119 to Buena Vista Lake all the broken glass and trash cleaned up to bring it up to par.

Kern River Parkway Trail

Impressive scenic trail

August, 2023 by bethredeker1

We have used this trail several times. We have not gone on the entire trail but we have ridden 35 miles. We prefer to go west on it as it is more scenic and there are not any homeless or sketchy areas. If you go east you will encounter many homeless people and the area doesn’t seem safest. We have not been bothered by the homeless, it is just a little uncomfortable seeing some using drugs, as we have a teenage daughter. Overall this trail is well kept. You can tell the city cares deeply about this trail. It’s in our top 10 in the country!

Santa Fe Trail (Visalia)

Nice trail into downtown Visalia

June, 2021 by qd5rwxzxh6

My wife and I ride this trail quite often and enjoy the easy access from our part of town to downtown Visalia. The trail is on a north/south axis and is paved and well signed. It stops a couple of blocks short of downtown but the road is wide and an easy 3 block bike ride or walk to the east side of downtown, not far from the transit station.

Reedley Rail-Trail

Good trail with tough street crossings

August, 2020 by new_rhythm1

The trail is in a great location, traveling behind the town, along beautiful farms. There are plenty of old growth trees providing shade on a hot Central Valley day. The only draw back are the numerous street crossings. The ramps down and up the street are covered with the large yellow bumps you see on most walkways. As a skateboarder this makes crossing the streets difficult. Without the bumps this would be a 4 star trail easy.

Kern River Parkway Trail

fantastic trail

May, 2020 by nevenante

I have been using it for the past three years almost every weekend. I enter the trail off of Mohawk being that I live near by. Going East the landscape is more varied in comparison to going west. Each side has its own type of beauty. The trail is mostly asphalt and very well maintained. I really like the fact that there is no place on the trail for cars to cross so you do not need to stop for traffic. You can ride non-stop the whole 22 miles.

Goshen Avenue Trail

Industrial Area Trail

March, 2020 by acewickwire

Location: Visalia, CA
Parking: Gravel lot in industrial area, west end of trail.
Trail Condition: Surface is fine and wide enough but not very appealing. Old and gray asphalt with a few old railroad track crossings at an angle…be careful crossing!
Signage: None.
Comments: The first 3 miles or so of the trail are in the industrial area of Visalia. The trail is between active track and busy Goshen Ave. Guessing the track is only occasional used, although a yard engine and a few cars did move along the track (in the industrial area) while we were on the trail. There are several intersection to cross, push button for crossing signal, at least these are spaced a good distance apart and didn’t feel like we were stopping every couple minutes for a cross road. The trail is mostly unappealing, straight and level. It is a rail-trail for sure. We encountered a single walker on the eastern end. This trail ok based trail condition, not pretty but not a bunch of cracks or roots, etc. Wouldn’t do this one again.

St. John's River Trail

Preferred Trail for the Area

March, 2020 by acewickwire

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.

Kern River Parkway Trail

South End Nicest

February, 2020 by acewickwire

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.

St. John's River Trail

Bikeway on the trail

October, 2019 by tonygeo

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

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Accordion

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