Bakersfield California

Bakersfield is located at 35°21'26" North, 119°1'54" West (35.357276, -119.031661)GR1, at 120 m (400 ft) in elevation. It lies near the southern tip of the San Joaquin Valley, and the southern tip of the Sierra Nevadas are just to the east.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 296.3 km² (114.4 mi²). 292.9 km² (113.1 mi²) of it is land and 3.4 km² (1.3 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.14% water.

The Kern River (dubbed the "Killer Kern" due to its dangerous swimming conditions) is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately 250 km (155 miles) long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield. Fed by snowmelt near Mount Whitney, the river passes through the Kern River Valley and Lake Isabella, including the nearby towns of Lake Isabella, Wofford Heights, Onyx, Bodfish, Mountain Mesa and Kernville before continuing through scenic canyons in the mountains and is a popular destination for whitewater rafting and kayaking. It formerly emptied into the now-dry Buena Vista Lake at the southern end of the Central Valley, but it is now entirely diverted for irrigation leaving it with no natural outlet.

Bakersfield lies approximately 160 km (100 mi) north of Los Angeles (about a 1.5-hour drive) and about 500 km (300 mi) southeast of the state capital, Sacramento (about a 4.5-hour drive).

Bakersfield is the second largest city in the United States that is not directly linked to an Interstate highway, although Interstate 5 runs just west of it while another north-south freeway, State Highway 99, bisects the city.