A significant east-west corridor across the southern Central Valley and Mojave Desert, California 58 is a two-lane highway through the Coastal Range between U.S. 101 and Interstate 5 and a freeway-expressway connection between Bakersfield and Barstow.
Planned Improvements
Ongoing upgrades to the corridor, including the recently completed Mojave Bypass, bring California 58 closer to freeway standards for the entire Bakersfield to Barstow route. California 58 replaced U.S. 466 between Bakersfield and Barstow during the Great Renumbering of 1964.
Highway Guide
The guide to California 58 is divided into eastbound and westbound directions by county as follows:
The Tehachapi Loop is part of the railroad that parallels California 58, and it is located about halfway up the Tehachapi Pass, near the Keene exit off California 58. The loop allows for the continuation of a consistent 2.2% grade for railroad traffic over 28 miles to the pass itself. Basically, the railroad completes a 360-degree loop (as shown in the first picture), thus allowing the consistent 2.2% grade to continue. Without the loop, the grade would be steeper. Photos taken 01/21/04.
Now on the Twenty Mule Team Road overpass, this view looks west in the morning toward the Tehachapi Mountains. Photo taken 03/15/09.
Someone painted "You Are Here" on an old section of U.S. 466 southwest of the interchange between California 58 and U.S. 466/Twenty Mule Team Road west of Boron. Photo taken 03/15/09.
This freeway entrance shield assembly is posted on the ramp from southbound Borax Road (Business California 58) onto eastbound California 58 toward Boron. Photo taken 03/15/09.
Several power lines converge on a substation in Kramer Junction (Four Corners), which is the intersection between California 58 and U.S. 395. Photos taken 03/15/09.
