The question, made famous by Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam, is more than a line from a song. It is an invitation to discover a city often overlooked by travelers passing through California’s Central Valley.
I’ve written about Bakersfield before but each visit reveals another layer. We discovered its Basque heritage over a meal at Benji’s Basque Restaurant, enjoyed local beer at Temblor Brewing Company, drove through miles of orange groves, and saw oil pumps still working across the landscape.
Perhaps that is the real Bakersfield. Its story isn’t found in one place or one attraction but in the people, food, music, agriculture, and industry that have shaped the city.
Maybe you simply have to slow down and look.
Our home base
Where the journey begins
For an RVer, the campground is where the journey begins. It is our home, our base, and the place from which each day’s discoveries unfold.
Bakersfield has three excellent RV parks and we’ve experienced all three. We’ve stayed at Orange Grove RV Park three times, stayed at Bakersfield River Run RV Park twice, and visited Bakersfield RV Resort. Each offers something different but all make good bases for exploring the city and surrounding area.
Orange Grove is perhaps the most memorable. The park sits among working orange trees and is a popular overnight stop for snowbirds heading south in fall and returning north in spring. When the oranges ripen, campers are invited to pick them. In spring, the blossoms fill the air with the unmistakable fragrance of citrus.
River Run offers a different advantage. We’ve stayed there twice, and the park backs onto the Kern River, with several Bakersfield experiences close at hand. Benji’s Basque Restaurant is a short distance away while the heart of Bakersfield are about a mile away.
Bakersfield RV Resort is also centrally located and is considered by some RVers to be the best of the three.
For us, these campgrounds aren’t simply places to park the RV. They become home base—a comfortable place to return to after a day of discovering another layer of Bakersfield.
And that’s where our exploration begins: from the campground, out onto the streets of Bakersfield.
A city of many stories
Bakersfield is more than it first appears
Bakersfield is easy to underestimate. Located in California’s Central Valley, it can seem like a place to pass through rather than a destination. Spend a little time here, however, and another picture emerges.
The city grew along the Kern River, attracting people seeking opportunity. Gold brought newcomers in the 1850s, followed by agriculture, oil, and waves of migration that shaped the community.
Today, those layers remain visible. Orange groves stretch across the valley, oil pumps continue their steady rhythm, and restaurants and gathering places reflect the cultures of those who made Bakersfield home.
Then there is the music. The Bakersfield Sound put this working-class city on the national map and gave it an identity that still resonates.
Bakersfield isn’t defined by any one of these things. Its character comes from all of them together.
Perhaps that is why the city rewards those willing to slow down and look a little closer.
The Basque connection
An unexpected heritage in the heart of California
One of the more surprising things about Bakersfield is its strong Basque heritage. Beginning in the late 19th century, Basque immigrants came to the Central Valley, many working as sheepherders. Over time, some settled, raised families, and became an important part of the region’s agricultural community.
Their influence remains visible today. Bakersfield has one of the largest Basque communities in the United States and its restaurants have become an important part of the city’s cultural identity.
We experienced that heritage firsthand at Benji’s Basque Restaurant. Because we were staying at River Run, it was an easy addition to our exploration of Bakersfield.
For our first Basque food experience, we ordered the Set Up—and it proved to be an excellent choice. Soup, pinto beans, and salsa were brought to the table to be mixed according to our preferences. The cabbage-filled soup and French bread were delicious, followed by a fresh salad of lettuce and tomatoes, along with pickled tongue.
Everything was delicious and we rolled out of the restaurant completely satisfied. More than a meal, it was an opportunity to experience a piece of Bakersfield’s history and a tradition that remains part of the city’s identity.
That is what makes discovering a place rewarding. Look beneath the surface and you often find stories you never expected.
In Bakersfield, the Basque story is one of them.
Where the oil still pumps
An industry woven into the landscape
Oil is another part of Bakersfield’s story that is impossible to miss. Discovered in the area in the 19th century, petroleum became one of the foundations of the local economy.
We saw that history firsthand while exploring the area where oil pumps still work among fields and orchards. Their slow, rhythmic movement is almost hypnotic, yet these aren’t relics preserved for visitors. They remain part of a working landscape.
The contrast is striking. Orange trees grow in neat rows while nearby pump jacks rise and fall against the valley sky. Agriculture and oil may seem like different worlds but both have helped shape Bakersfield.
Seeing the pumps in their everyday setting made the history feel less like something from a textbook and more like a living part of the city.
In Bakersfield, the past isn’t always behind glass.
Sometimes it is still pumping.
From the grove to the table
Bakersfield’s agricultural bounty, from grove to table
Just down the road from Orange Grove RV Park is California Fruit Depot, a small family-owned fruit market and packing facility. Its specialties are oranges and Medjool dates along with nuts, dried fruit, and other locally produced treats.
After staying among the orange trees, stopping at the Fruit Depot seemed like a natural next step. Here, the agricultural landscape we had been enjoying from the RV became something we could take home and enjoy.
There is something satisfying about buying fresh produce close to where it is grown. Instead of another stop at a supermarket, we were experiencing a small piece of the Central Valley’s agricultural bounty.
For RVers, stops like this are part of the fun of traveling by road. You discover a local place, taste something fresh, and perhaps leave with something to enjoy later at the campsite.
Sometimes you don’t have to look far to taste a place.
A new Bakersfield
Tradition doesn’t mean standing still
Bakersfield has deep roots but it isn’t stuck in the past. We saw that at Temblor Brewing Company where the city’s working-class character meets a newer craft-beer culture.
Temblor is a reminder that the city continues to evolve. Places like this give locals a place to gather and visitors another reason to linger, adding a contemporary layer to a community better known for oil, agriculture, Basque food, and country music.
What I enjoyed was the sense that this wasn’t created simply for tourists. It felt like a place where locals come to relax, socialize, and enjoy themselves.
Perhaps that is another part of understanding a city. You can learn much from its history, but you also need to see what is happening there today.
Bakersfield’s story is still being written.
The sound of Bakersfield
When a city found its voice
You can’t talk about Bakersfield without talking about music. In the late 1950s and 1960s, local musicians created a distinctive country sound built around electric guitars, a driving rhythm, and a harder-edged feel than the polished Nashville sound of the day.
Buck Owens and Merle Haggard became its best-known voices. Their music reflected the working people and independent spirit of the Central Valley and the Bakersfield Sound eventually influenced country music far beyond California.
Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace became a landmark of that musical legacy. Part restaurant, museum, and music venue, it celebrated Owens’ career and the music that put Bakersfield on the map. The Crystal Palace closed its doors to the public in 2025 but its place in Bakersfield’s musical history remains.
And then there is Streets of Bakersfield, the song that inspired our title. When Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam recorded it together in 1988, it brought the city and its distinctive musical identity back into the national spotlight.
The song asks whether you’ve ever walked the streets of Bakersfield.
After spending time here, I think the better question is whether you’ve ever really looked.
The gate to Bakersfield
Where Buck Owens helped preserve a piece of the past
Just outside Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace stands a piece of Bakersfield history that might easily be missed—the Bakersfield gate.
The original gateway was built in 1949 as an entrance to the city along old Highway 99. When it was eventually removed, Buck Owens recognized its significance and helped save it, bringing the structure to its present location near the Crystal Palace.
I knew about the gate and made a point of searching it out. Standing beside it, I was reminded that Bakersfield’s history isn’t confined to museums or historic buildings. Sometimes it survives because someone recognizes that a seemingly ordinary piece of the past is worth preserving.
The gate feels like a fitting companion to the Crystal Palace, another reminder of a Bakersfield that could easily have disappeared beneath the growth of the modern city.
Instead, the gate remains.
And if you are going to walk the streets of Bakersfield, this is one piece of its history worth seeking out.
Perhaps you just have to look
A city reveals itself one layer at a time
Bakersfield isn’t a city that reveals everything at once.
From our campground, we began to discover a place shaped by Basque immigrants, agriculture, oil, music, and generations of people who came here looking for opportunity. Some of its stories are obvious. Others are easy to miss unless you slow down.
We found history in a Basque meal, orange groves, working oil pumps, and a preserved gateway. We found a city still evolving at a local brewery. And we found a musical identity that gave Bakersfield a voice far beyond California.
Perhaps that’s what Streets of Bakersfield was really asking us to consider.
Have we ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?
Yes, we have.
But more importantly, we took the time to look.
And sometimes, that’s all it takes to discover the unexpected.
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Editor’s note
This article was originally published in September 2026. Information reflects what was accurate at the time of writing. Conditions, access, and amenities may change over time, so please verify current details before planning your trip.
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