Inyokern, California

Inyokern Airport (IATA: IYK, ICAO: KIYK, FAA LID: IYK) is a public use airport located 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) northwest of the central business district of Inyokern, in Kern County, California, United States. It is owned by the Indian Wells Valley Airport District and serves the Indian Wells Valley area. The airport is mostly used for general aviation and was previously served by a number of commuter and regional airlines over the years with passenger flights to Los Angeles (LAX). As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 11,149 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 11,081 enplanements in 2009, and 11,109 in 2010. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).

China Lake Acres is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. The population was 1,876 at the 2010 census, up from 1,761 at the 2000 census.

An Indian Wells California Historical Landmark was erected near the Indian Wells Lodge, 4.9 miles north of Freeman Junction on Highway 14 where William L. Manly found water after his group left Death Valley. This marker was placed by California Centennials Commission in cooperation with Kern County Historical Society and dedicated on July 9, 1950. This site is California Historical Landmark #457. The inscription on the plaque reads: Indian water hole on Joseph R. Walker trail of 1834 where Manly-Jayhawker parties of 1849 found their first water after five days of travel from Argus Range. During 1860s was site of stage and freight station from Los Angeles to Coso and Cerro Gordo mines.

Indian Wells (formerly, Homestead) is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is located in the Indian Wells Valley, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west-northwest of Inyokern, on California State Route 14, at an elevation of 2,759 feet (841 m).

Leliter (also, Muerto) is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on the Southern Pacific Railroad 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north-northwest of Inyokern in the Indian Wells Valley, at an elevation of 2303 feet (702 m). Leliter still appeared on maps as of 1943. Though Leliter is a former settlement, residents still reside in and around the area. Today, no sign of the original settlement remains, except for Leliter Road (named after the settlement) that heads west from Brown Road (Old US 395) to link up with modern-day US 395. A post office operated at Leliter from 1910 to 1927.

Freeman Junction, a ghost town in Kern County, California, United States, was first homesteaded in the early 1870s. Freeman S. Raymond built a stage coach station here to accommodate travelers between the desert mines and Los Angeles. A group of Native Americans who were defending their homes and families in 1909 killed off the homesteaders and burned the stage station, after which the property lay dormant for several years. It was re-homesteaded in the 1920s by Clare C. Miley, who was born in 1900, and his wife. By the 1930s their small stone cabin became a gas station/car repair and later, a restaurant and some mining activities dominated the site. In 1953 a post office was planned, but never materialized and residents had to travel seven miles to Inyokern to collect their mail. By June, 1978, the town had died once again and the remains of the town have since been removed by passersby. Today, the site has reverted to its natural state and nothing remains.

Ridgecrest Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in northeastern Kern County, California, United States, bordered in the north and east by Ridgecrest. The population of Ridgecrest Heights was 380 in the 2020 census.

Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest under Commander, Navy Installations Command, and was originally known as Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS).The installation is located in the Western Mojave Desert region of California, approximately 150 miles (240 km) north of Los Angeles. Occupying land in three counties – Kern, San Bernardino, and Inyo – the installation's closest neighbors are the city of Ridgecrest and the communities of Inyokern, Trona, and Darwin. China Lake is the United States Navy's largest single landholding, representing 85% of the Navy's land for weapons and armaments research, development, acquisition, testing, and evaluation (RDAT&E) use and 38% of the Navy's land holdings worldwide. In total, its two ranges and main site cover more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2), an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. As of 2010, at least 95% of that land is undeveloped. The roughly $3 billion infrastructure of the installation consists of 2,132 buildings and facilities, 329 miles (529 km) of paved roads, and 1,801 miles (2,898 km) of unpaved roads. The 19,600 square miles (51,000 km2) of restricted and controlled airspace at China Lake makes up 12% of California's total airspace. Jointly controlled by NAWS China Lake, Edwards Air Force Base and Fort Irwin, this airspace is known as the R-2508 Special Use Airspace Complex. A 7.1 magnitude earthquake on July 5, 2019, whose epicenter was within the boundaries of NAWS China Lake, resulted in the facility being temporarily evaluated as "not mission capable" due to damage.

Indian Wells Valley is an arid north-south basin in east-central California. In the geologic sense, it is a southern extension of Owens Valley to the north, with the recent volcanics of the Coso Range being the separator. It is defined by a major fault on the west side of the valley. Unlike Owens Valley, it is bound by a fault to the south, the Garlock Fault (within the El Paso Mountains). This valley is part of the northwesternmost Mojave Desert plant community and ecoregion. The largest city in the valley is Ridgecrest. Other locations include Inyokern, Indian Wells, and communities associated with the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, the primary industry in the valley. California State Route 14 and US Highway 395 are the main transportation corridors through the valley.

Ridgecrest Regional Hospital is a hospital located in Ridgecrest, California which is just east of the Southern Sierra Mountains in the Indian Wells Valley. It has two specialty units, including pediatric and intensive care. The hospital was established in the mid-1940s out of a need for medical care for the workforce of the growing China Lake Naval Weapons Station.It is the only regional healthcare system in the area and provides a variety of services to the region. Jim Suver serves as the CEO of the hospital.

KLOA (1240 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a sports format, licensed to and serving Ridgecrest, California, United States. The station is currently owned by Adelman Broadcasting, Inc. and features programming from CBS Sports Radio.

Ridgecrest is a city in Kern County, California, United States, along U.S. Route 395 in the Indian Wells Valley in northeastern Kern County, adjacent to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWS, or China Lake). It was incorporated as a city in 1963. The population was 27,959 at the 2020 census, up slightly from 27,616 at the 2010 census. Ridgecrest is surrounded by four mountain ranges; the Sierra Nevada on the west, the Cosos on the north, the Argus Range on the east, and the El Paso Mountains on the south. It is approximately 82 miles (132 km) from the Lancaster/Palmdale area, 110 miles (177 km) from Bakersfield, and 120 miles (193 km) from San Bernardino, the three nearest major urban centers. Private air travel in and out of the city is provided through the Inyokern Airport. There are currently no scheduled commercial flights. The city has been near the epicenter of major earthquakes, including one in 1995 and a series of quakes in July 2019.