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📅Events
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🗺️Visitor Guide
🌵Attractions
📢City Alerts
// 01 — Upcoming
City Events
Full Calendar
October 23–25, 2026
Desert Empire Fair
Desert Empire Fairgrounds, 520 S. Richmond Rd · Livestock shows, carnival rides, live entertainment, food vendors, and demolition derby.
Details →
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Every 2nd Saturday · Next: Apr 11, 2026
Maturango Museum Free Admission Day
Maturango Museum, 100 E Las Flores Ave · Free entry on the 2nd Saturday of every month. Mojave Desert history, Native American artifacts, rotating art galleries.
Details →
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// 02 — Explore

Your basecamp for
California's greatest wonders.

From the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere to the highest peak in the contiguous US — all within 90 minutes of Ridgecrest.

Death Valley · 60 minPetroglyphs · 45 minRandsburg · 30 minMt. Whitney · 90 minKern River · 75 min
~28K
Residents
300+
Sunny Days / Year
60mi
To Death Valley
#1
Dark Sky Zone SoCal
// 03 — Our Roots
A city forged
by the desert
& the nation.

Ridgecrest grew from a frontier settlement into one of the most strategically vital cities in California. Its story is written in gold rushes, world wars, Native American heritage, and the relentless spirit of the high desert.

1910s
First Settlers ArriveHomesteaders drawn by fertile valley land establish the first community at Crumville in Indian Wells Valley.
1926
Named RidgecrestThe community adopts the name Ridgecrest, referencing the Sierra Nevada ridge visible to the west.
1943
Naval Station EstablishedThe U.S. Navy establishes Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake, transforming the region overnight.
1963
City IncorporationRidgecrest officially incorporates as a city in Kern County, California.
1999
NAWS China LakeRedesignated Naval Air Weapons Station — the Navy's premier weapons research center.
2019
Ridgecrest EarthquakesThe city weathers the largest SoCal earthquake in 20 years and rebuilds stronger.
Desert History
Mojave Desert
Est.
1963

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