Frazier Park is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is 5 miles (8 km) west of Lebec,[3] at an elevation of 4,639 feet (1,414 m).[2] It is one of the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass. The population was 2,691 in the 2010 census, up from 2,348 in 2000.
The earliest record relating to Frazier Park was a report in 1854 that lumber was being produced there from Frazier Mountain trees for use at the new Army post at nearby Fort Tejon. Local historian Bonnie Ketterl Kane wrote that the mill was “supposedly” at the southeast end of the present community. She cited another report that a Kitanemuk Indian referred to the site as Campo del Soldado (Soldier’s Camp), “which was where the soldiers stayed when they cut timber from a mountain they called Pinery Mountain, today’s Frazier Mountain.”[4]
The community itself was established in 1925 by Harry McBain, who named it in 1926 for Frazier Mountain, on its southern flank. Its post office was established on September 14, 1927, with Charles B. Fife as the first postmaster.[5]
Frazier Park was also used in filming for The Waltons television show.[6]
Frazier Park is also the setting of the 2011 film The FP and 1974’s The Black Six.[7]
Frazier Park lies within Cuddy Canyon in the San Emigdio Mountains, within the Los Padres National Forest. Mount Pinos is the highest peak in the area at 8,831 ft (2,692 m).
Other nearby communities include Lake of the Woods (3.6 miles (5.8 km)), Lebec (4.6 miles (7.4 km)), Pine Mountain Club (14.5 miles (23.3 km)), and Mettler (16.7 miles (26.9 km)). Santa Clarita is the nearest large city to the south on Interstate 5 (I-5), and Bakersfield is the largest city to the north of Interstate 5 (I-5).
The San Andreas fault runs through the region, turning southeast on the west side of Interstate 5, just southwest of the Frazier Park exit in what is known as the Big Bend of the San Andreas.
The nearest highway is Interstate 5, east of the community. The main road through Frazier Park is Frazier Mountain Park Road, which runs east to Lebec and I-5 and west to Lake of the Woods.
This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F (22.0 °C). According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Frazier Park has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated “Csb” on climate maps.