Randsburg - California Ghost Towns | California Travel Tips
California Travel Tips host Veronica Hill heads into the Mojave Desert to check out Randsburg Ghost Town.
Located in Kern County along scenic Highway 395, Randsburg is one of California's few living ghost towns, home to approximately 80 residents.
The Rand Mining District was established in 1895, when gold was discovered in the Rand mountains. It's estimated that Randsburg produced more than $60 million in gold during its boom. There also was plenty of tungsten ore and silver. One of the most productive gold mines was the Yellow Aster, which yielded $25 million between 1895 and 1933.
Be sure to check out the Randsburg Jail, located at the entrance to Randsburg, then head inside the Rand Desert Museum, where you'll find mining exhibits, memorabilia and artifacts from the Rand Mining District. Be sure to say hi to curator J. Bart Parker, and tell him we said hello!
Most of Randsburg's surviving Old West buildings are located along Butte Avenue. The Santa Barbara Catholic Church dates back to 1904, but the first church was built here in 1897. The Randsburg Post Office dates back to 1896. On holidays, local thespians don period costumes for plays and melodramas at the Randsburg Opera House.
The Randsburg General Store is the hub of action in Randsburg, especially during the fall when the weather cools off and ATV riders arrive. You have to order the Black Bart. It's a signature item here! Built in 1896 as the Jones Drug Store, this popular hangout is a huge draw for tourists who fuel up on burgers and sandwiches, washed down with a phosphate soda. The building still has its original tin ceilings, light fixtures and soda fountain dating back to 1904.
For a bit of wild west nostalgia, head into the White House Saloon, which hosted miners, cowboys, Indians and clampers during the boom years; or check out The Joint, a local watering hole that's been here since the 1950s.
If you want to stay the night, Goat's Sky Ranch is a B&B with miner's cabin rentals, or you can check into the Randsburg Inn , which sits on the former site of the Orpheum Theater, My Place Dance Hall and Commercial Hotel.
One thing to consider — Randsburg literally becomes a ghost town during the week. The best time to visit is on the weekend, when most businesses are operating.
Thanks for joining us in Randsburg. I'll see you next time!
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GOLD MINING TOWN OF RANDSBURG CA,
RANDSBURG IS A SMALL MINING TOWN LOCATED JUST OF HIGHWAY 395 IN KERN COUNTY CALIFORNIA.
Living History - Randsburg, CA
Hi. This is a video feature that accompanies the Immersive Worlds Handbook. I hope that you will enjoy the many insights that you will gain from this book on designing themed and immersive spaces and from these short videos that help put things into more context. For more information The Immersive Worlds Handbook: Designing Theme Parks and Consumer Spaces (2012, Focal, ISBN: 0240820932), go to Amazon.com (amazon.com/gp/product/0240820932) or other bookstores. For additional social media features on this book, please see Twitter ( Pinterest ( Facebook ( Tumblr ( and Blogger ( For the companion Web site and additional handouts, see
Daggett California
An incredible day trip to Daggett California, exploring the history and people that made this town thrive.
For more stories like this check us out at
Music Gasoline by Audioslave
Downtown Randsburg Grand Off-Road Round-Up Mojave Desert Ghost Town Thanksgiving 2015 0288
Off-Road String of Videos (Playlist) Off-Road California Mojave Desert Mountains by Randsburg Thanksgiving 2015
Photos at
Old West Desert Mountain Town at 3,600 feet (1,104 meters) above sea level (in southern California when as many as 2,000 to 10,000 to 20,000 people camp out in cottages and circle up in RV Round-Ups stretching for thirty miles from Randsburg to Johannesburg along US 395 south to California City, east of Mojave, 2-1/2 hours east of a totally different culture in Los Angeles. Off Roaders, Dirt Bikers and 4 Wheelers, love the basin and range with salt flats and endless twist and turn in the higher elevations of sagebrush hills and desert mountains in the warm southern California chaparral.
On the high end of Main Street in the Living Ghost Town of Randsburg only local artists show in the Randsburg Art Gallery. Randsburg resident population is not 70, not 50, but recently down to 48 people in the heart of this mountain side enclave of Bohemians living on the cool north slope.
Great views extend over mountain ranges Rand, El Paso and southern end of the Sierras to the northwest layering fifty miles deep into the Sierras at the far north of the Owens Valley greatly valued by many Wild West Hollywood movie directors including backgrounds for John Wayne films.
From the wide balcony of the Cottage Hotel at the high end of town, the northeast view looks over the tops of three mountain ranges advancing into lost desert basin and range, layering in greys from light to dark hiding mysteries of pioneers and prospectors of the Audacious Generation struggling against the Wild West impelled by burning visions inspired by travel guides and drawings of the 1850s overland journals telling wild stories of the greatest migration of people in the history of the world. Some of them pared off on the dry eastern drainage of the Sierras. People such as Seldom Seen Slim and desert homesteaders like the prior generations of Scrappy, manager of the Cottage Hotel, happy to be in the area all her life.
Antique phosphate sodas are thankfully not as sweet as many soda pops today.
In the Randsburg Art Gallery a hand painted map of southern California high desert depicts the highest elevation in the continental USA - Mount Whitney 14,495 feet above sea level in the Sequoia National Forest in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains and a moderate distance to the east-southeast the lowest point in the United States - Death Valley at 282 feet BELOW sea level, too hot and too dry in the summer. In between are military reservations of Fort Irwin desert warfare and armored tank training center, China Lake Naval Weapons Center and Edwards Air Force Base. The map is a fresco 10 foot square. Off map to the northeast in southern Nevada is Nellis Bombing and Gunnery Range and off map to the south is experimental military aircraft development center - Skunk Works, famous since the 1950s with the X-1 to Right Stuff coming together in the X-15.
First Bank of Randsburg was open for six months then failed. Randall Hoot Smith is now the pleasant owner.
Erma Maw - Choctaw Indian Artist.
Scene from Darwin, mining ghost town in southern California. Artist uses as many as thirty layers of paint, many layers use translucent paint.
Randsburg centrally located for hiking in the Sierras of southern Tulare County and eastern Kern County, and also other marvels of the Mojave Desert in southern Inyo County.
Randsburg is about 1200 feet (368 meters) above the much hotter desert floor, hence it is good for overnight stays before heading to Death Valley National Monument or other areas in the Mojave Desert. Only three hours from Los Angeles, Randsburg is also due east of the southern tip of the Sierra.
North Star Mining Museum, Grass Valley, California, August 6, 2013
North Star Mining Museum, Grass Valley, California, August 6, 2013
Downtown Randsburg Grand Off Road Round Up 023 The Joint Desert Museum
Off-Road String of Videos (Playlist) California Mojave Desert Mountains by Randsburg Thanksgiving 2015
Photos at
Old West Desert Mountain Town at 3,600 feet (1,104 meters) above sea level (in southern California when as many as 2,000 to 10,000 to 20,000 people camp out in cottages and circle up in RV Round-Ups stretching for thirty miles from Randsburg to Johannesburg along US 395 south to California City, east of Mojave, 2-1/2 hours east of a totally different culture in Los Angeles. Off Roaders, Dirt Bikers and 4 Wheelers, love the basin and range with salt flats and endless twist and turn in the higher elevations of sagebrush hills and desert mountains in the warm southern California chaparral.
On the high end of Main Street in the Living Ghost Town of Randsburg only local artists show in the Randsburg Art Gallery. Randsburg resident population is not 70, not 50, but recently down to 48 people in the heart of this mountain side enclave of Bohemians living on the cool north slope.
Great views extend over mountain ranges Rand, El Paso and southern end of the Sierras to the northwest layering fifty miles deep into the Sierras at the far north of the Owens Valley greatly valued by many Wild West Hollywood movie directors including backgrounds for John Wayne films.
From the wide balcony of the Cottage Hotel at the high end of town, the northeast view looks over the tops of three mountain ranges advancing into lost desert basin and range, layering in greys from light to dark hiding mysteries of pioneers and prospectors of the Audacious Generation struggling against the Wild West impelled by burning visions inspired by travel guides and drawings of the 1850s overland journals telling wild stories of the greatest migration of people in the history of the world. Some of them pared off on the dry eastern drainage of the Sierras. People such as Seldom Seen Slim and desert homesteaders like the prior generations of Scrappy, manager of the Cottage Hotel, happy to be in the area all her life.
Antique phosphate sodas are thankfully not as sweet as many soda pops today.
In the Randsburg Art Gallery a hand painted map of southern California high desert depicts the highest elevation in the continental USA - Mount Whitney 14,495 feet above sea level in the Sequoia National Forest in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains and a moderate distance to the east-southeast the lowest point in the United States - Death Valley at 282 feet BELOW sea level, too hot and too dry in the summer. In between are military reservations of Fort Irwin desert warfare and armored tank training center, China Lake Naval Weapons Center and Edwards Air Force Base. The map is a fresco 10 foot square. Off map to the northeast in southern Nevada is Nellis Bombing and Gunnery Range and off map to the south is experimental military aircraft development center - Skunk Works, famous since the 1950s with the X-1 to Right Stuff coming together in the X-15.
First Bank of Randsburg was open for six months then failed. Randall Hoot Smith is now the pleasant owner.
Erma Maw - Choctaw Indian Artist.
Scene from Darwin, mining ghost town in southern California. Artist uses as many as thirty layers of paint, many layers use translucent paint.
Randsburg centrally located for hiking in the Sierras of southern Tulare County and eastern Kern County, and also other marvels of the Mojave Desert in southern Inyo County.
Randsburg is about 1200 feet (368 meters) above the much hotter desert floor, hence it is good for overnight stays before heading to Death Valley National Monument or other areas in the Mojave Desert. Only three hours from Los Angeles, Randsburg is also due east of the southern tip of the Sierra.
Brit Flag Off-Road California Mountains Randsburg Mojave Desert Ghost Town 0014
Off-Road String of Videos (Playlist) California Mojave Desert Mountains by Randsburg Thanksgiving 2015
Photos at
Old West Desert Mountain Town at 3,600 feet (1,104 meters) above sea level (in southern California when as many as 2,000 to 10,000 to 20,000 people camp out in cottages and circle up in RV Round-Ups stretching for thirty miles from Randsburg to Johannesburg along US 395 south to California City, east of Mojave, 2-1/2 hours east of a totally different culture in Los Angeles. Off Roaders, Dirt Bikers and 4 Wheelers, love the basin and range with salt flats and endless twist and turn in the higher elevations of sagebrush hills and desert mountains in the warm southern California chaparral.
On the high end of Main Street in the Living Ghost Town of Randsburg only local artists show in the Randsburg Art Gallery. Randsburg resident population is not 70, not 50, but recently down to 48 people in the heart of this mountain side enclave of Bohemians living on the cool north slope.
Great views extend over mountain ranges Rand, El Paso and southern end of the Sierras to the northwest layering fifty miles deep into the Sierras at the far north of the Owens Valley greatly valued by many Wild West Hollywood movie directors including backgrounds for John Wayne films.
From the wide balcony of the Cottage Hotel at the high end of town, the northeast view looks over the tops of three mountain ranges advancing into lost desert basin and range, layering in greys from light to dark hiding mysteries of pioneers and prospectors of the Audacious Generation struggling against the Wild West impelled by burning visions inspired by travel guides and drawings of the 1850s overland journals telling wild stories of the greatest migration of people in the history of the world. Some of them pared off on the dry eastern drainage of the Sierras. People such as Seldom Seen Slim and desert homesteaders like the prior generations of Scrappy, manager of the Cottage Hotel, happy to be in the area all her life.
Antique phosphate sodas are thankfully not as sweet as many soda pops today.
In the Randsburg Art Gallery a hand painted map of southern California high desert depicts the highest elevation in the continental USA - Mount Whitney 14,495 feet above sea level in the Sequoia National Forest in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains and a moderate distance to the east-southeast the lowest point in the United States - Death Valley at 282 feet BELOW sea level, too hot and too dry in the summer. In between are military reservations of Fort Irwin desert warfare and armored tank training center, China Lake Naval Weapons Center and Edwards Air Force Base. The map is a fresco 10 foot square. Off map to the northeast in southern Nevada is Nellis Bombing and Gunnery Range and off map to the south is experimental military aircraft development center - Skunk Works, famous since the 1950s with the X-1 to Right Stuff coming together in the X-15.
First Bank of Randsburg was open for six months then failed. Randall Hoot Smith is now the pleasant owner.
Erma Maw - Choctaw Indian Artist.
Scene from Darwin, mining ghost town in southern California. Artist uses as many as thirty layers of paint, many layers use translucent paint.
Randsburg centrally located for hiking in the Sierras of southern Tulare County and eastern Kern County, and also other marvels of the Mojave Desert in southern Inyo County.
Randsburg is about 1200 feet (368 meters) above the much hotter desert floor, hence it is good for overnight stays before heading to Death Valley National Monument or other areas in the Mojave Desert. Only three hours from Los Angeles, Randsburg is also due east of the southern tip of the Sierra.
Golden Hills Pictographs near Tehachapi, CA
Kern County's Barry Marlett near Tehachapi, California with some local Kawaiisu Rock Art.
Historic Trona Monorail
An annotated photographic slideshow of a trip to the historic Trona Monorail which was used in the transportation of magnesium sulphate (epsom salt) in Southern California in the 1920s.
Downtown Randsburg Grand Off Road Round Up Mojave Desert Ghost Town Thanksgiving 2015 196
Off-Road String of Videos (Playlist) Off-Road California Mojave Desert Mountains by Randsburg Thanksgiving 2015
Photos at
Old West Desert Mountain Town at 3,600 feet (1,104 meters) above sea level (in southern California when as many as 2,000 to 10,000 to 20,000 people camp out in cottages and circle up in RV Round-Ups stretching for thirty miles from Randsburg to Johannesburg along US 395 south to California City, east of Mojave, 2-1/2 hours east of a totally different culture in Los Angeles. Off Roaders, Dirt Bikers and 4 Wheelers, love the basin and range with salt flats and endless twist and turn in the higher elevations of sagebrush hills and desert mountains in the warm southern California chaparral.
On the high end of Main Street in the Living Ghost Town of Randsburg only local artists show in the Randsburg Art Gallery. Randsburg resident population is not 70, not 50, but recently down to 48 people in the heart of this mountain side enclave of Bohemians living on the cool north slope.
Great views extend over mountain ranges Rand, El Paso and southern end of the Sierras to the northwest layering fifty miles deep into the Sierras at the far north of the Owens Valley greatly valued by many Wild West Hollywood movie directors including backgrounds for John Wayne films.
From the wide balcony of the Cottage Hotel at the high end of town, the northeast view looks over the tops of three mountain ranges advancing into lost desert basin and range, layering in greys from light to dark hiding mysteries of pioneers and prospectors of the Audacious Generation struggling against the Wild West impelled by burning visions inspired by travel guides and drawings of the 1850s overland journals telling wild stories of the greatest migration of people in the history of the world. Some of them pared off on the dry eastern drainage of the Sierras. People such as Seldom Seen Slim and desert homesteaders like the prior generations of Scrappy, manager of the Cottage Hotel, happy to be in the area all her life.
Antique phosphate sodas are thankfully not as sweet as many soda pops today.
In the Randsburg Art Gallery a hand painted map of southern California high desert depicts the highest elevation in the continental USA - Mount Whitney 14,495 feet above sea level in the Sequoia National Forest in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains and a moderate distance to the east-southeast the lowest point in the United States - Death Valley at 282 feet BELOW sea level, too hot and too dry in the summer. In between are military reservations of Fort Irwin desert warfare and armored tank training center, China Lake Naval Weapons Center and Edwards Air Force Base. The map is a fresco 10 foot square. Off map to the northeast in southern Nevada is Nellis Bombing and Gunnery Range and off map to the south is experimental military aircraft development center - Skunk Works, famous since the 1950s with the X-1 to Right Stuff coming together in the X-15.
First Bank of Randsburg was open for six months then failed. Randall Hoot Smith is now the pleasant owner.
Erma Maw - Choctaw Indian Artist.
Scene from Darwin, mining ghost town in southern California. Artist uses as many as thirty layers of paint, many layers use translucent paint.
Randsburg centrally located for hiking in the Sierras of southern Tulare County and eastern Kern County, and also other marvels of the Mojave Desert in southern Inyo County.
Randsburg is about 1200 feet (368 meters) above the much hotter desert floor, hence it is good for overnight stays before heading to Death Valley National Monument or other areas in the Mojave Desert. Only three hours from Los Angeles, Randsburg is also due east of the southern tip of the Sierra.
Bobcat Red Flag Further Off-Road California Mountains Randsburg Mojave Desert Thanksgiving 2015
Off-Road String of Videos (Playlist) California Mojave Desert Mountains by Randsburg Thanksgiving 2015
Photos at
Old West Desert Mountain Town at 3,600 feet (1,104 meters) above sea level (in southern California when as many as 2,000 to 10,000 to 20,000 people camp out in cottages and circle up in RV Round-Ups stretching for thirty miles from Randsburg to Johannesburg along US 395 south to California City, east of Mojave, 2-1/2 hours east of a totally different culture in Los Angeles. Off Roaders, Dirt Bikers and 4 Wheelers, love the basin and range with salt flats and endless twist and turn in the higher elevations of sagebrush hills and desert mountains in the warm southern California chaparral.
On the high end of Main Street in the Living Ghost Town of Randsburg only local artists show in the Randsburg Art Gallery. Randsburg resident population is not 70, not 50, but recently down to 48 people in the heart of this mountain side enclave of Bohemians living on the cool north slope.
Great views extend over mountain ranges Rand, El Paso and southern end of the Sierras to the northwest layering fifty miles deep into the Sierras at the far north of the Owens Valley greatly valued by many Wild West Hollywood movie directors including backgrounds for John Wayne films.
From the wide balcony of the Cottage Hotel at the high end of town, the northeast view looks over the tops of three mountain ranges advancing into lost desert basin and range, layering in greys from light to dark hiding mysteries of pioneers and prospectors of the Audacious Generation struggling against the Wild West impelled by burning visions inspired by travel guides and drawings of the 1850s overland journals telling wild stories of the greatest migration of people in the history of the world. Some of them pared off on the dry eastern drainage of the Sierras. People such as Seldom Seen Slim and desert homesteaders like the prior generations of Scrappy, manager of the Cottage Hotel, happy to be in the area all her life.
Antique phosphate sodas are thankfully not as sweet as many soda pops today.
In the Randsburg Art Gallery a hand painted map of southern California high desert depicts the highest elevation in the continental USA - Mount Whitney 14,495 feet above sea level in the Sequoia National Forest in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains and a moderate distance to the east-southeast the lowest point in the United States - Death Valley at 282 feet BELOW sea level, too hot and too dry in the summer. In between are military reservations of Fort Irwin desert warfare and armored tank training center, China Lake Naval Weapons Center and Edwards Air Force Base. The map is a fresco 10 foot square. Off map to the northeast in southern Nevada is Nellis Bombing and Gunnery Range and off map to the south is experimental military aircraft development center - Skunk Works, famous since the 1950s with the X-1 to Right Stuff coming together in the X-15.
First Bank of Randsburg was open for six months then failed. Randall Hoot Smith is now the pleasant owner.
Erma Maw - Choctaw Indian Artist.
Scene from Darwin, mining ghost town in southern California. Artist uses as many as thirty layers of paint, many layers use translucent paint.
Randsburg centrally located for hiking in the Sierras of southern Tulare County and eastern Kern County, and also other marvels of the Mojave Desert in southern Inyo County.
Randsburg is about 1200 feet (368 meters) above the much hotter desert floor, hence it is good for overnight stays before heading to Death Valley National Monument or other areas in the Mojave Desert. Only three hours from Los Angeles, Randsburg is also due east of the southern tip of the Sierra.
Pirate Flag Off-Road California Mountains Randsburg Mojave Desert Ghost Town Thanksgiving 2015 0012
Off-Road String of Videos (Playlist) California Mojave Desert Mountains by Randsburg Thanksgiving 2015
Photos at
Old West Desert Mountain Town at 3,600 feet (1,104 meters) above sea level (in southern California when as many as 2,000 to 10,000 to 20,000 people camp out in cottages and circle up in RV Round-Ups stretching for thirty miles from Randsburg to Johannesburg along US 395 south to California City, east of Mojave, 2-1/2 hours east of a totally different culture in Los Angeles. Off Roaders, Dirt Bikers and 4 Wheelers, love the basin and range with salt flats and endless twist and turn in the higher elevations of sagebrush hills and desert mountains in the warm southern California chaparral.
On the high end of Main Street in the Living Ghost Town of Randsburg only local artists show in the Randsburg Art Gallery. Randsburg resident population is not 70, not 50, but recently down to 48 people in the heart of this mountain side enclave of Bohemians living on the cool north slope.
Great views extend over mountain ranges Rand, El Paso and southern end of the Sierras to the northwest layering fifty miles deep into the Sierras at the far north of the Owens Valley greatly valued by many Wild West Hollywood movie directors including backgrounds for John Wayne films.
From the wide balcony of the Cottage Hotel at the high end of town, the northeast view looks over the tops of three mountain ranges advancing into lost desert basin and range, layering in greys from light to dark hiding mysteries of pioneers and prospectors of the Audacious Generation struggling against the Wild West impelled by burning visions inspired by travel guides and drawings of the 1850s overland journals telling wild stories of the greatest migration of people in the history of the world. Some of them pared off on the dry eastern drainage of the Sierras. People such as Seldom Seen Slim and desert homesteaders like the prior generations of Scrappy, manager of the Cottage Hotel, happy to be in the area all her life.
Antique phosphate sodas are thankfully not as sweet as many soda pops today.
In the Randsburg Art Gallery a hand painted map of southern California high desert depicts the highest elevation in the continental USA - Mount Whitney 14,495 feet above sea level in the Sequoia National Forest in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains and a moderate distance to the east-southeast the lowest point in the United States - Death Valley at 282 feet BELOW sea level, too hot and too dry in the summer. In between are military reservations of Fort Irwin desert warfare and armored tank training center, China Lake Naval Weapons Center and Edwards Air Force Base. The map is a fresco 10 foot square. Off map to the northeast in southern Nevada is Nellis Bombing and Gunnery Range and off map to the south is experimental military aircraft development center - Skunk Works, famous since the 1950s with the X-1 to Right Stuff coming together in the X-15.
First Bank of Randsburg was open for six months then failed. Randall Hoot Smith is now the pleasant owner.
Erma Maw - Choctaw Indian Artist.
Scene from Darwin, mining ghost town in southern California. Artist uses as many as thirty layers of paint, many layers use translucent paint.
Randsburg centrally located for hiking in the Sierras of southern Tulare County and eastern Kern County, and also other marvels of the Mojave Desert in southern Inyo County.
Randsburg is about 1200 feet (368 meters) above the much hotter desert floor, hence it is good for overnight stays before heading to Death Valley National Monument or other areas in the Mojave Desert. Only three hours from Los Angeles, Randsburg is also due east of the southern tip of the Sierra.
Tour Sahm Fow (Marysville's Chinatown) & the Chinese American Museum of Northern California
Tour Marysville's historic Chinatown and the new CAHM (Chinese American History Museum of Northern California) 6th annual Bomb Day lecture series Feb 25, 2012
Bureau Of Mines film on the giant stopes in the Lead Belt Mines
Sturgis of the Off Road Kingdom on Thanksgiving is Randsburg
in southern California when as many as 2,000 to 10,000 to 20,000 people camp out in cottages and circle up in RV Round-Ups stretching for thirty miles from Randsburg to Johannesburg along US 395 south to California City, east of Mojave, 2-1/2 hours east of a totally different culture in Los Angeles. Off Roaders, Dirt Bikers and 4 Wheelers, love the basin and range with salt flats and endless twist and turn in the higher elevations of sagebrush hills and desert mountains in the warm southern California chaparral.
On the high end of Main Street in the Living Ghost Town of Randsburg only local artists show in the Randsburg Art Gallery. Randsburg resident population is not 70, not 50, but recently down to 48 people in the heart of this mountain side enclave of Bohemians living on the cool north slope.
Photos at
Great views extend over mountain ranges Rand, El Paso and southern end of the Sierras to the northwest layering fifty miles deep into the Sierras at the far north of the Owens Valley greatly valued by many Wild West Hollywood movie directors including backgrounds for John Wayne films.
From the wide balcony of the Cottage Hotel at the high end of town, the northeast view looks over the tops of three mountain ranges advancing into lost desert basin and range, layering in greys from light to dark hiding mysteries of pioneers and prospectors of the Audacious Generation struggling against the Wild West impelled by burning visions inspired by travel guides and drawings of the 1850s overland journals telling wild stories of the greatest migration of people in the history of the world. Some of them pared off on the dry eastern drainage of the Sierras. People such as Seldom Seen Slim and desert homesteaders like the prior generations of Scrappy, manager of the Cottage Hotel, happy to be in the area all her life.
Indigo evenings at the high end of Main Street on the North Porch of Goat Sky Ranch Bed, Breakfast & BBQ BYO see both of the two different northwest and northeast mountain vistas in hues of deepening blue and gray. One hundred feet lower on the north end of Main Street, a photographer in the foot steps of Ansel Adams has captured those moments of light on display in his gallery near the General Store with early 1900s phosphate soda fountain for floats, sundaes and a whole lot more. On the the other side is a local lounge and across the street the Old West White House Saloon in white paint and corrugated metal roof, desert oxide gray, decades old but not rusted.
Antique phosphate sodas are thankfully not as sweet as many soda pops today.
Bring ribs, chicken, hamburger, hot dogs, corn and/or steak to work either of two great BBQ grilles at your own pace for lunch or dinner, either at the Mountain View North Porch or the organic desert picnic garden with views to the eastern hillside where dwell dark aged wood ruins of many historic mining works and mill buildings several hundred yards away. [Hazardous - Stay Away]. The eclectic desert garden BBQ is adjacent to the large hot tub building for guests of the Cottage Hotel.
In the Randsburg Art Gallery a hand painted map of southern California high desert depicts the highest elevation in the continental USA - Mount Whitney 14,495 feet above sea level in the Sequoia National Forest in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains and a moderate distance to the east-southeast the lowest point in the United States - Death Valley at 282 feet BELOW sea level, too hot and too dry in the summer. In between are military reservations of Fort Irwin desert warfare and armored tank training center, China Lake Naval Weapons Center and Edwards Air Force Base. The map is a fresco 10 foot square. Off map to the northeast in southern Nevada is Nellis Bombing and Gunnery Range and off map to the south is experimental military aircraft development center - Skunk Works, famous since the 1950s with the X-1 to Right Stuff coming together in the X-15.
First Bank of Randsburg was open for six months then failed. Randall Hoot Smith is now the pleasant owner.
Erma Maw - Choctaw Indian Artist.
Scene from Darwin, mining ghost town in southern California. Artist uses as many as thirty layers of paint, many layers use translucent paint.
Randsburg centrally located for hiking in the Sierras of southern Tulare County and eastern Kern County, and also other marvels of the Mojave Desert in southern Inyo County.
Randsburg Cottage Hotel Bed and Breakfast and Cabin Rentals.
130 Butte Avenue PO Box 104 Randsburg, CA 93554 760-374-2285
has many guests from other countries staying a Weekend or a Week!
Randsburg is about 1200 feet above the much hotter desert floor, hence it is good for overnight stays before heading to Death Valley National Monument or other areas in the Mojave Desert. Only three hours from Los Angeles, Randsburg is also due east of the southern tip of the Sierra.
Strange Artifacts Found in American Deserts
At one point in time, the entire mojave desert was covered in water and before European settlers moved in, it was inhabited by massive wild animals, and advancee native americwn civilizations some of whic mysteriously disappeared. From sandals left by the anasaxi to even a mummified cowboy, here are...
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6. Sloth Dung
A giant, extinct sloth once lived inside caves in Utah and it turns out he used this cave as a toilet, whenever duty called. Analyzing this mummified dung can give researchers an insight on what he was eating 11,000 years ago. A chemical analysis shows that it feasted on a shrub known as desert globemallow, which is often nicknamed Mormon Tea, as well as a drought surviving plant known as saltbush. Modern days sloths don’t regulate temperature very well and finding this dung inside a cave also proves that they must have began finding shelter in caves in order to keep warm. This give them a good idea of what plants were growing in present day Utah as well as the climate
5.Anasazi Sandals
The anasazi are a very mysterious tribe of native americans who often had some strange displays of cave art near the 4 corners region of the united states. Did you think californians were the first to use flip flops? That’s clearly not the case as more and more sandal artifacts from the anasazi people are showing up! The desert ground is often hot for at least half of the year and it’s not the easiest thing to step on if you’re barefoot. The anasazi manufactured sandals made from whole leaf yucca which was woven carefully to the person’s foot. Prehistoric sandals were nothing like the kind of shoes we have today but the crafting techniques certainly show a degree of sophistication. Sandals were interweaved with looms diagonally from one side of the sandal to the other, creating enough layers to keep their feet protected on a minimal level
4.Cowboy Mummy
There aren’t a whole lot mummies in North America compared to places like Egypt or Peru but the very few mummies that have been discovered in our deserts are pretty creepy. This mummy were looking at here was found in the desert near Gila Bend Arizona and he was given the nickname of Sylvester, kind of like the cat. Rumor on the web has it that he was caught cheating while playing poker, and tried to escape the angry person shooting at him by running off into the desert. He bled out and the dry desert preserved his body. However that might have just been a story to attract some attention. It’s most likely that his body was quickly preserved with an abnormally large amount arsenic after passing. It’s turned out the real answer was a little bit of both stories and he was found to have buckshot in his internal organs. He’s on display at the Ye old curiousity shop in seattle washington.
3. The Mojave Nugget
The largest known golden nugget found in California is known as the Mojave nugget and it was found in 1977 by a prospector Ty Paulsen. Weighing in at 4.9 kilograms it’s worth roughly 205,800 dollars with the current price of gold! Who knew a hobby could result in such a life changing discovery. The massive chunk of gold ore was found near Randsburg, California which as had a history of gold mining since 1895 when gold was first discovered. Ty Paulsen is certainly happy no other pioneer was able to find this chunk of metal! It was apparently so heavy, that a special gold scale had to be created for this specific specimen. It was donated to the natural history museum of los angeles county which seems like one heck of a donation! Instead of playing the lottery, you might as well just buy a metal detector and get to work
2.Petroglyphs of Sloan Canyon
Located south of Las Vegas, the petroglyphs of sloan canyon are often overlooked by the petroglyphs at the valley of fire or red rock canyon. How these should not be overlooked, and are some of the best preserved petroglyphs in the western united states. It’s not a tourist friendly attraction and the sloan canyon conservation area was created basically to keep people out rather than to keep them in.. They date back to 12,000 years ago and it requires an intense 2 to 3 mile hike to reach. Much of the artwork is open to interpretation and some of them might even make you wonder if the piutes who lived here might have made some kind of contact with extraterrestrials. It’s believed that the valley was filled with more water at one point in time, meaning that it was much more habitable than it is now.
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Brit Flag Half Way Up Randsburg Mountain Mojave Desert Off-Road California Thanksgiving 2015
Off-Road String of Videos (Playlist) California Mojave Desert Mountains by Randsburg Thanksgiving 2015
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Old West Desert Mountain Town at 3,600 feet (1,104 meters) above sea level (in southern California when as many as 2,000 to 10,000 to 20,000 people camp out in cottages and circle up in RV Round-Ups stretching for thirty miles from Randsburg to Johannesburg along US 395 south to California City, east of Mojave, 2-1/2 hours east of a totally different culture in Los Angeles. Off Roaders, Dirt Bikers and 4 Wheelers, love the basin and range with salt flats and endless twist and turn in the higher elevations of sagebrush hills and desert mountains in the warm southern California chaparral.
On the high end of Main Street in the Living Ghost Town of Randsburg only local artists show in the Randsburg Art Gallery. Randsburg resident population is not 70, not 50, but recently down to 48 people in the heart of this mountain side enclave of Bohemians living on the cool north slope.
Great views extend over mountain ranges Rand, El Paso and southern end of the Sierras to the northwest layering fifty miles deep into the Sierras at the far north of the Owens Valley greatly valued by many Wild West Hollywood movie directors including backgrounds for John Wayne films.
From the wide balcony of the Cottage Hotel at the high end of town, the northeast view looks over the tops of three mountain ranges advancing into lost desert basin and range, layering in greys from light to dark hiding mysteries of pioneers and prospectors of the Audacious Generation struggling against the Wild West impelled by burning visions inspired by travel guides and drawings of the 1850s overland journals telling wild stories of the greatest migration of people in the history of the world. Some of them pared off on the dry eastern drainage of the Sierras. People such as Seldom Seen Slim and desert homesteaders like the prior generations of Scrappy, manager of the Cottage Hotel, happy to be in the area all her life.
Antique phosphate sodas are thankfully not as sweet as many soda pops today.
In the Randsburg Art Gallery a hand painted map of southern California high desert depicts the highest elevation in the continental USA - Mount Whitney 14,495 feet above sea level in the Sequoia National Forest in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains and a moderate distance to the east-southeast the lowest point in the United States - Death Valley at 282 feet BELOW sea level, too hot and too dry in the summer. In between are military reservations of Fort Irwin desert warfare and armored tank training center, China Lake Naval Weapons Center and Edwards Air Force Base. The map is a fresco 10 foot square. Off map to the northeast in southern Nevada is Nellis Bombing and Gunnery Range and off map to the south is experimental military aircraft development center - Skunk Works, famous since the 1950s with the X-1 to Right Stuff coming together in the X-15.
First Bank of Randsburg was open for six months then failed. Randall Hoot Smith is now the pleasant owner.
Erma Maw - Choctaw Indian Artist.
Scene from Darwin, mining ghost town in southern California. Artist uses as many as thirty layers of paint, many layers use translucent paint.
Randsburg centrally located for hiking in the Sierras of southern Tulare County and eastern Kern County, and also other marvels of the Mojave Desert in southern Inyo County.
Randsburg is about 1200 feet (368 meters) above the much hotter desert floor, hence it is good for overnight stays before heading to Death Valley National Monument or other areas in the Mojave Desert. Only three hours from Los Angeles, Randsburg is also due east of the southern tip of the Sierra.
Kern County Communications
Kern County Communications
Bill Whiting