About the Community

OUR COMMMUNITY

HOUSING

New and resale homes are available and range in price from $100,000 to over $500,000, with the average home selling for $200,000. Rental units are available from $400 to $1200 per month, and all city services are available, including natural gas and an abundance of well water fed by the melting snows of the nearby Sierras.


RECREATION

Whether it be camping, fishing, and hunting; four-wheeling and motorcycling; horseback riding; mountain climbing, rock hunting and prospecting; water sports; golf; winter sports, including the best skiing in California; or just lying in the shade of a redwood, the choice is available in or near the Indian Wells Valley. Two national parks, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, are within 100 air miles; Yosemite is only a few miles farther north. Lake Isabella, Southern California's largest man-made lake, is within an hour's scenic drive. Also within easy reach are hundreds of miles of pure mountain streams and literally countless cool mountain lakes. The City of Ridgecrest provides extensive recreational programs. Community recreational facilities include parks, playgrounds, theaters, bowling alleys, swimming pools, miniature golf, and an 18-hole golf course. Over 150 clubs and organizations in the immediate area, with a combined membership of over 5,000, cater to every conceivable interest. Community and college theater groups welcome volunteer actors and backstage workers, and provide the playgoer with theatrical fare ranging from Broadway hits to classical and experimental dramas. The Desert Community Orchestra and the Cerro Coso Community College choir welcome new members and perform several concerts each year. Concerts by world-renowned entertainers are brought to the community by the Indian Wells Valley Concert Association. The growing Maturango Museum features many and varied exhibits and displays, especially those which emphasize the unique history and development of the Indian Wells Valley, such as America's largest collection of petroglyphs. Two major highways bring the opportunities of the large metropolitan centers of Southern California within a few hours' driving time. 


PEOPLE

Sierra Sands serves a highly educated, scientific, and technologically oriented population of approximately 35,000 residents of the Indian Wells Valley including China Lake, Ridgecrest, Inyokern, and the Rand mining district communities of Johannesburg and Randsburg. China Lake is the home of the Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS), the Navy's major research, development, test, and evaluation facility. Much of the conventional airborne weaponry used by the free world today was conceived and developed here. NAWS employs approximately 5,000 people who are primarily civilian scientists and engineers. Ridgecrest is the residential and business center serving employees of NAWS, as well as the engineering, chemical, computer, and mining firms located in the area. Inyokern, situated eight miles west of Ridgecrest, was one of the earliest settlements in the area, and is the location of a county airport. The once bustling Rand mining district, found twenty miles to the south, is still characterized by working mines as well as the authentic ghost town of Garlock.


HEALTH

A heliport-equipped hospital complex, in association with a medical group, including a convalescent hospital; a number of physicians and dentists in private practice; an active program for the elderly; and counseling clinics provide a wide spectrum of individual and group services.


RELIGION

The Naval Air Weapons Station Community Church holds interdenominational services in the All Faith Chapel. Roman Catholics hold regular services in their own churches in Ridgecrest and Randsburg, as well as in the All Faith Chapel. Services for Hebrew congregations are held in the All Faith Chapel. Also meeting on the Station are the Christian Science Society and the Unitarian Fellowship. Among many Protestant denominations holding services in Ridgecrest are the Assembly of God, several Baptist churches, the Church of God, the Church of Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Church of the Nazarene, the Community Methodist Church, the Foursquare Church, two Lutheran congregations, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Episcopal Church, and the Seventh Day Adventists.


EDUCATION

The California State University, Bakersfield, as well as several other state universities and private institutions offer upper-division and graduate work through their extension programs, covering the fields of education, engineering, management, mathematics, and science. Adult education classes at the high school and community college level are open to all. Classes are offered according to public demand.

OUR LOCATION AND CLIMATE


The Sierra Sands Unified School District is located in the Indian Wells Valley of California's beautiful high desert. The valley, averaging 2,500 feet in elevation, is surrounded by the magnificent Sierra Nevada, Coso, and Argus Mountain Ranges. The city of Los Angeles is a three-hour drive to the south, and Bakersfield, the Kern County seat, is two hours to the west. The highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States (Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevadas and Badwater in Death Valley) are both within a comfortable driving distance. The air in the Indian Wells Valley is clean and clear with practically unlimited visibility. Summer temperatures average 90 degrees with low humidity and pleasant breezes. Even the hottest days, when temperatures exceed 100 degrees, give way to pleasant evenings and beautiful sunsets. Winter daytime temperatures are often in the 60's and 70's, and although night and early morning temperatures sometimes fall below freezing, there is very little precipitation, and snow is rare.

Website by SchoolMessenger Presence. © 2024 SchoolMessenger Corporation. All rights reserved.