ITs easy, here in the area of concern, they are not presently widespread. This is the desert, kings are a wetland/grassland species. They are absent in dry areas, and dry mountain ranges and at elevation. This area is the desert and is divided by many many mountain ranges. Here their avenues are rivers valleys and irrigated farmland. Both of which have dried up from drought and pumping of the water table.
Your from SoCal right. In SoCal, every town, every area has its own color morph of king. If they did have consistent geneflow, they would not do that. They would be the same. But in reality, each local is somewhat different.
I keep saying kings are polymorphic. Which means have several or many phenotypic patterns. Another way to look at it is, tight or loose. Some species have a tight color/pattern and stay the same over many hundreds of miles and many habitat types. Then you have kings, which have loose color/patterns, which means they change to fit a habitat and do so quickly. They respond to phenotypic pressures quickly. Which is why so many folks are upset with molecular(Dna) work. That pays no, zero, nada, attention to color and pattern. Its about the relationships in the past. heck even minor physical differences are neglected.
The point is, kingsnakes change color and pattern like you change your underwear. They do so in response to phenotypic pressures. Their genotype is a grabbag of possibilities to allow that.
With ethology, species and subspecies are not important concepts. The reason is simple, each animal, was something, and is on its way to become something else. The reason is evolution. Its a changing world, always has been, animals and humans, are in constant change to stay in existence.

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