Buena Vista Lake, when overflowing, first backed up into Kern Lake and then upon rising higher drained into Tulare Lake via Buena Vista Slough and a changing series of sloughs of the Kern River. The Kern River formerly emptied into the now dry Buena Vista Lake and Kern Lake via the Kern River Slough, and Kern Lake in turn emptied into Buena Vista Lake via the Connecting Slough at the southern end of the Central Valley. It is the southernmost major river system in the Sierra Nevada, and is the only major river in the Sierra that drains in a southerly direction. Fed by snowmelt near Mount Whitney, the river passes through scenic canyons in the mountains and is a popular destination for whitewater rafting and kayaking. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield. state of California, approximately 165 miles (270 km) long.
The Kern River, originally Rio de San Felipe, later La Porciuncula, is a Wild and Scenic river in the U.S.
