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Kramer Junction is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, in the western Mojave Desert, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 395 and State Route 58. It is also known locally as Four Corners, a name that reflects its identity as a highway crossroads rather than a conventional town. The junction lies near the Kern County line, with the borax-mining community of Boron to the east and the Antelope Valley to the west. The area's significance is twofold. First, it is a major transportation node, where the north-south U.S. 395 meets the east-west State Route 58, the principal route across the Mojave between Barstow and Bakersfield. For decades the intersection was a notorious traffic chokepoint; a highway bypass completed in 2020 eased congestion through the junction. Second, Kramer Junction is a landmark in solar energy history. The Kramer Junction Solar Electric Generating Station — the SEGS III–VII complex — is a 150-megawatt solar thermal plant that began commercial operation in 1989. It was a central piece of the Solar Electric Generating System, the pioneering collection of nine parabolic-trough solar fields that helped establish the Mojave as a proving ground for utility-scale solar power. The surrounding area is equally defined by aerospace and mining. Edwards Air Force Base, a premier flight-test installation, lies nearby, and the borax operations around Boron have long shaped the regional economy. The community itself remains small and service-oriented, with a cluster of highway businesses and little residential development. For travelers, Kramer Junction is a stop along a vast, starkly beautiful desert corridor. For residents, it is a remote workplace and waypoint, with Barstow to the east and the Antelope Valley to the west providing the nearest substantial services. Its combination of desert solitude, industrial-scale solar, and strategic highway position gives it a character unlike any other address in San Bernardino County.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Kramer Junction, California?

Kramer Junction is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, in the western Mojave Desert. It sits at the intersection of U.S. Highway 395 and State Route 58, and is also known as Four Corners.

What is Kramer Junction known for?

Kramer Junction is best known for the Kramer Junction Solar Electric Generating Station, the SEGS III–VII complex. This 150-megawatt solar thermal plant began operating in 1989 and was part of the pioneering Solar Electric Generating System in the Mojave Desert.

What is near Kramer Junction?

Kramer Junction lies near Edwards Air Force Base, a major flight-test installation whose eastern end extends into San Bernardino County. The borax-mining town of Boron is also nearby, along the route to Barstow.

What highways meet at Kramer Junction?

Kramer Junction sits at the junction of U.S. 395 and State Route 58, a key east-west route across the Mojave Desert between Barstow and the Antelope Valley. A highway bypass completed in 2020 eased traffic through the junction.

What services are available in Kramer Junction?

Kramer Junction is a sparse desert community with limited services rather than a conventional town. The nearest sizable city is Barstow, roughly thirty miles to the east along State Route 58.

City Guide

About Kramer Junction

Real Estate & Housing

Housing at Kramer Junction is extremely limited. The community has little conventional residential stock; instead, the area is characterized by scattered desert parcels, highway-oriented commercial properties, and a handful of homes tied to local employment in the solar and mining industries. Most workers and residents live elsewhere — in Barstow, Boron, or the Antelope Valley — and commute to the junction. For buyers, the surrounding open desert offers large, inexpensive-feeling parcels and rural homesites, but municipal services are minimal, and water, utilities, and access are key practical considerations. The area is best understood as a working desert outpost rather than a residential market, with any housing decisions driven by employment or a preference for extreme seclusion.

Neighborhoods

Lifestyle in Kramer Junction

Life at Kramer Junction is remote, spartan, and tied to the desert highway. The community is a waypoint rather than a residential town, with a small cluster of highway services — fuel, food, and lodging — serving the steady flow of traffic between Barstow and the Antelope Valley. Its residents are few, and many work in the surrounding industries: the solar energy complex, the borax operations near Boron, and the aerospace installations of the nearby Edwards Air Force Base corridor. Daily life unfolds against a backdrop of vast desert, dramatic sun, and the mirrored fields of the solar plants. Shopping, healthcare, and other services require a drive to Barstow, about thirty miles east, or to the Antelope Valley communities to the west.

Schools & Education

Getting Around

Kramer Junction is defined by its highways. U.S. Highway 395 runs north-south, connecting the high desert and Owens Valley to the Antelope Valley and points south, while State Route 58 is the major east-west corridor linking Barstow, about thirty miles east, with Bakersfield and the southern San Joaquin Valley to the west. State Route 14, the Antelope Valley Freeway, lies to the west and provides access toward Palmdale, Lancaster, and the Los Angeles basin. A bypass completed in 2020 now carries through-traffic around the junction. There is no public transit at Kramer Junction, and no commercial airport; the nearest air service is through the Antelope Valley and Los Angeles-area airports, reached by car.

Parks & Recreation

Recreation around Kramer Junction is wide-open and desert-oriented. The surrounding Mojave supports off-highway vehicle riding, dispersed camping, stargazing, and photography across vast public lands, and the area's dark skies and stark landscapes draw visitors seeking solitude. Nearby, the communities of Boron and Barstow offer additional attractions, including mining heritage sites and access points to the broader Mojave National Preserve region. The high desert's clear air and dramatic terrain make it popular for landscape photography and astronomy. Recreation is largely self-directed and vehicle-based, reflecting the area's remote character, with established parks and developed amenities found in Barstow and the Antelope Valley.