State Scenic Highway 58 58
State Scenic Highway 58 is a scenic drive in California. Within California it covers roughly 65 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along State Scenic Highway 58 with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
State Scenic Highway 58 crosses Tehachapi Pass, the birthplace of large-scale wind power in North America, between Bakersfield and the Mojave Desert. Development of the Tehachapi Pass wind farm began in the early 1980s under engineer James Dehlsen and the Zond Corporation, drawn by a venturi effect that funnels air between the coast and desert at a steady 14 to 20 miles per hour. What began as scattered turbines 45 to 60 feet tall has grown into the wider Tehachapi-Mojave Wind Resource Area, now home to more than 5,000 turbines, some standing 400 to 500 feet high and generating up to 2.4 megawatts apiece. Passing east of the pass, the highway also runs alongside a stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail. Eligible for California's State Scenic Highway System from Mojave to Barstow, the drive trades the golden hills of the Central Valley for the sparse, wind-swept high desert, with rows of turbines spinning across the ridgelines in nearly every direction.
- Bakersfield to Mojave Desert
- Tehachapi Pass wind farm (est. 1980s)
- 5,000+ wind turbines
- Pacific Crest Trail crossing
- eligible for CA Scenic Highway System
- birthplace of US wind power
Plan a drive on State Scenic Highway 58 →
About this drive
This is a scenic drive — a road worth taking for the views and the journey itself rather than the quickest line between two points.
Where to Stay along State Scenic Highway 58
No campgrounds are listed close to State Scenic Highway 58 yet, but there are rooms near the route.
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