Bakersfield - Tourist Attractions / Parks

Country music lovers will want to make time for a stopover in Bakersfield,  if only for Buck Owens' Crystal Palace, a museum/restaurant/live music venue that both captures and celebrates "the Bakersfield sound." Live performances, whether musical or theater, are a staple of Bakersfield culture, but there's also a museum or two to consider during the day like the Bakersfield Museum of Art and the Buena Vista Museum of History. If you're up for something more outdoorsy, take a long day-trip to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, do some gold panning up near Lake Isabella at the Keyesville Recreational Mining Area  or enjoy a detour out around Carrizo Plain National Monument, particularly pretty when wildflowers are in bloom.