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).

Native American tribes of the Paiute, Shoshone, and Kawaiisu thrived in the Indian Wells Valley.

In the 1880s, Chinese railroad workers briefly settled in the area, giving local China Lake its name.

This, plus the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad brought lasting settlers to the Indian Wells Valley.

[10] The settlement that would eventually become Ridgecrest began as a farming community called Crumville in 1912,[11] honoring James and Robert Crum, local dairymen.

Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) was established in November 1943, providing a strong job base for the years to come.

[11] During this era the growth of Ridgecrest was governed by the continuing needs of the high tech industries coupled to the Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) programs for testing arms and guidance systems.

Today, the city serves as an essential housing and business community for NAWS China Lake.

The area, associated with the Eastern California Shear Zone, has in the past experienced numerous earthquake swarms, groups of several thousand quakes under magnitude 6.0 or so, often with no obvious mainshock.

[12] Between July 4 and 5, 2019, the city of Ridgecrest and surrounding communities experienced a series of significant earthquakes, including the strongest to impact the area in decades—a magnitude 7.1 mainshock.

[13] The sequence began on July 4 with a 4.0-magnitude quake approximately 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) southwest of Searles Valley.

The climate is characterized by hot days and cool nights with extremely arid conditions prevailing throughout the summer months.

People in group quarters:[25] Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWS China Lake) is an airborne weapons testing and training range located adjacent to Ridgecrest and operated by the United States Navy and its contractors.

Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake provides the majority of employment in the city at just under 8,000 jobs in 2018.

This includes the government civilian workforce, active duty military personnel and private contractors.

The principal employers in Ridgecrest in 2020 were:[28] The most notable feature in the nearby area is the Coso People rock art in Big and Little Petroglyph Canyons.

The Coso People were prolific artists and traded with distant tribes using tools crafted of stone.

Archeological recovery at coastal Chumash sites in California indicates considerable trade with the Coso People.

The museum is best known for the guided tours to Little Petroglyph Canyon on China Lake Naval Weapons Station (NAWS).

The pass provides a route between the San Joaquin Valley on the west and the Mojave Desert on the east.

Red Rock Canyon State Park is also very close to Ridgecrest and provides the community with hiking and camping opportunities.

[36] Ridgecrest Elementary Academy for Language, Music, and Science (REALMS)is a public charter school sponsored by the Kern County Office of Education.

[37] The 420 acres (1.7 km2) Indian Wells Valley Campus (IWV) is located in the upper Mojave Desert near Ridgecrest.

Crime statistics for 2011 (reported by the Ridgecrest Police Department):[40] Notable natives include: Ridgecrest has one TV station, KZGN-LD, owned by Wiknich Broadcasting Corp., that has 3 channels serving the entire Indian Wells Valley over the air and on Mediacom Cable.

The city of Ridgecrest provides the Ridgecrest Transit shuttle bus service to and from Inyokern, connecting with the Eastern Sierra Transit Authority bus that serves Bishop and Mammoth Lakes to the north, and Lancaster (Metrolink station), with connections to the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles, to the south.