Apple Valley, California is an incorporated town in the Victor Valley of San Bernardino County with a population of 75,791 as of 2020. It is located near Victorville and Hesperia, about 35 miles south of Barstow and 49 miles north of San Bernardino through the CAjon Pass. Apple Valley was incorporated on November 14, 1988, and is one of 22 municipalities in California that use “town” instead of “city.”
Historically, the area was home to the Shoshonean, Paiute, Vanyume, Chemehuevi, and Serrano peoples, followed by the Mojave people, who were first contacted by Spanish explorers in 1542. Spanish explorers like Pedro Fages in 1772 and Father Francisco Garcés in 1776 traveled through the region. The area was later part of routes used by gold seekers and settlers, including Jedediah Smith and members of the Mormon Battalion, who brought wagons, Cattle, and settlers through the Mojave River Valley.









