The moment you turn off State Route 178 onto the dirt road that beats through the dry bed of Searles Lake basin, the Trona Pinnacles erupt like spires in the dusty distance. It’s as if they’re ...

Where would one go to explore the unusual yet scenic desert backdrop from better-known films and TV shows like "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" (1989), "Planet of the Apes" (2001), “Battlestar ...

Looking for spectacular desert scenery within about three hours driving from Orange County? Try Ridgecrest. Not on your bucket list? I hope this journal of my recent trip will put it there. Ridgecrest ...

RIDGECREST — Bob, our old Ford Explorer, was parked at the base of the Trona Pinnacles while we explored this desert oddity Nov. 17. I kept glancing back at the site of our bouncy buddy, a four-wheel ...

Set back five miles off SR 178, twenty miles east of Ridgecrest, CA, on a dirt road, the 500 tufa (calcium carbonate) peaks – some as high as 140 feet – stand out for miles. As with those in Mono Lake ...

Recently, on a cold and windy weekend, I journeyed to the Trona Pinnacles, a few miles south of the booming town of Trona. The plan was simple: camp, snap some photos, and write a story about the ...

From the archive: This story originally published at The Desert Sun in April 2018. The moment you turn off State Route 178 onto the dirt road that beats through the dry bed of Searles Lake basin, the ...