San Bernardino Points of Interest

The remains of an Arrastres located in Belleville, San Bernardino, CA

Arrastres – Gold Fever Trail

The Arrastres is a point of interest found along the Gold Fever Off Road Trail in Holcomb Valley in the San Bernardino Mountains. The remains…
Atolia and mine in the Mojave Desert, circa 1908 postcard.

Atolia California – San Bernardino County Ghost Town

Atolia is a ghost town and tungsten mine located in the Mojave Desert in northwestern San Bernardino County, California. The town is located just off…
This image, taken circa 1940, shows the main residence, workshop, retaining walls, and ornamental vegetation. Note the windmill located behind the workshop. View north (DEVA collection) - NPS

Barker Ranch

Thomason/Barker Ranch is a five-acre property within Death Valley National Park. This historic site is located off of Goler Wash in the southern Panamint Range…
Barnwell and Searchlight Railway Company Stock Certificate

Barnwell and Searchlight Railroad

The Barnwell and Searchlight Railroad was a twenty three miles long railroad which connected Searchlight, Nevada to Barnwell California and the larger rail network of…
The cabin at the Belleville California townsite is not original but moved to the location to represent the style of the structures of the town.

Belleville California – San Bernardino County Ghost Town

The cabin at the Belleville California townsite is not original but moved to the location to represent the style of the structures of the town.…

Bert Smith’s Cabin

Bert Smith's Cabin overlooks Camp Rock Springs Located deep in the Mojave National Reserve exists a small stone building, known as Bert Smith's Cabin, which…
Calico California

Calico California – San Bernardino Count Ghost Town

Calico California is a ghost town located just outside of Barstow in Mojave desert of San Bernardino, California. The town began its like in 1881…

Camp Rock Springs

A small oasis and valuable water supply along the Old Mojave Road, Camp Rock Springs was the site of a military outpost established on December…
View showing steamboat Cochan on the Colorado River near Yuma, Arizona in 1900 - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

Colorado Steamships

From 1852 through 1909, Colorado Steamships ferried people and supplies up and down the Colorado River to mining camps and outposts. Following the discovery of…

Doble California – San Bernardino Ghost Town

Doble California is a gold mining town and ghost town which is located off the western shore of Lake Baldwin in San Bernardino, California. The…
Evening Star Mine, Mojave, California - 2015 Photo by James L Rathbun

Evening Star Mine

The Evening Star Mine first came to our attention in the winter of 2014, while researching the mining history of the Mountain Pass, CA.
Goffs, CA

Goffs California – San Bernardino County Ghost Town

Originally known as Blake, Goffs, California is a small unincorporated community located off of Route 66 in the Mojave desert near the Piute Mountains.  Originally…
The remains of Gold Mountain Mine, "Lucky Baldwin Mine" overlook the townsite of Doble and Baldwin Lake.

Gold Mountain Mine – Gold Fever Trail

Located about 10.8 miles from the start of the Gold Fever Off Road Trail, the Gold Mountain mine is an abandoned mine site which overlooks…
Photo by James L Rathbun

Goldome Mill

The heavily vandalized Goldome Mill outside of Ivanpah, California. Photo by James L Rathbun The Goldome Mill is an abandoned modern mill site in the…
Government Holes in the central section of the Old Mojave Road.

Government Holes

The tale of the the Old Mojave Road is the story of water, the more important resource in the desert.  Along the Old Mojave Road…
The Hangman's Tree found along the Gold Fever Off Road Trail in Holcomb Valley, California

Hangman’s Tree – Gold Fever Trail

The Hangman’s Tree is a point of interest found along the Gold Fever Off Road Trail in Holcomb Valley in the San Bernardino Mountains. The…
Henry Wade Escape Route Monument located on Highway 127

Henry Wade Escape Route

The Henry Wade Escape Route is an easy 4x4 trail suitable for almost any vehicle and connects highway 127 to Badwater Road. The route is…
Ivanpah - Bidwell Mill

Ivanpah California – San Bernardino County Ghost Town

Not of be confused with two others sites of the same name, Ivanpah is a ghost town and mine site located along the Eastern edge…
Jonathon Tibbets Grasshopper Quartz Mill is stop number four on the Gold Fever Off Road Trail in Holcomb Valley, California.

Jonathon Tibbets Grasshopper Quartz Mill

Stop number four along the Gold Fever Off Road Trail is Holcomb Valley, is Jonathon Tibbets Grasshopper Quartz Mill. The Gold Fever Off Road Trail…
Kelso Depot, Mojave CA. Photo by James L Rathbun

Kelso Depot

The story of the westward expansion is the story of the railroads.  Beginning in 1862, the Union Pacific Railroad sought expansion opportunities along the western…
These mine cart rails are a little small to pull the amount of gold claimed to be here.

Kokoweef Mine

The Kokoweef Mine and in fact all of the trails and mines located in the Ivanpah / Mountain Pass area represent exactly why I started…
A live stock watering trough in the Mojave Desert.. Photograph by James L Rathbun

Mojave Goldfish

Over Presidents day weekend, my wife and I were travelling back from Big Bear, CA to our house after a visit with family towards our…
A horizontal shaft in the Ivanpah Mountains.

Morning Star Mine

Located in the Ivanpah Mountains, the Morning Star Mine is a gold / silver mine located near to California / Nevada border near Mountain Pass.…
Myers Ranch, Panamint Mountain

Myers Ranch

Myers Ranch is a privately owned ranch located in Goler Wash in the Panamint Mountains of Death Valley National Park, California. The forty acre ranch…
Photograph of the "Baby Gauge" (aka "Baby Gage") mine train at the mining camp of Ryan, Death Valley, ca.1900-1950. A car with one headlight can be seen at center on tracks pulling a platform with four benches upon it. Someone can be seen driving the car, while four men and women sit on the benches. A small wooden shack with a portion of the roof missing can be seen behind the platform, while a ladder, wooden planks, and more tracks are visible at left. A valley and mountains can be seen in the background. - “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Ryan California

Ryan, California, is a small unincorporated community located in the southeastern region of San Bernardino County, California. The town is located in the Greenwater Range…
Silver Star Mine Cabin - Photo by James L Rathbun

Silver Star Mine

The Silver Star Mine is a small mine site located off of the Zinc Mountain Road in San Bernardino County, California.
My son Ryan showing the proper technique for climbing the rings, on the Ring Trail, Mojave National Preserve.

The Hole in the Wall Ring Trail

The Hole in the Wall Ring Trail is a short is a 1.5 miles loop trail around a hill top and through a slot canyon…
Wyatt and Josephine Earp in the Lucky Day Mine mining camp near Vidal, California: This is the only confirmed picture of the two of them together.

The Lucky Day Mine

The Lucky Day Mine is a gold and copper mine located in San Bernardino, California and once owned by Wyatt Earp. Wyatt Earp is probably…
More details Tonopah & Tidewater #1 was a Baldwin 4-6-0 steam locomotive, originally built for the Wisconsin and Michigan Railroad, later going to the Randsburg Railway on the Santa Fe as their #1 (later #260). Went to the T&T in 1904 and used in passenger and shunting service. It was scrapped in 1941, and the bell was saved by the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society at Pomona, CA.

Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad

Explorers of the Mojave Desert in southern California are bound to have heard the stories of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. The Tonopah and Tidewater…
Ryan climbed to the top of Travelers Monument

Travelers Monument

When travelling the Old Mojave Road, there is a tradition to pick and carry a rock, and carry the rock to the Travelers Monument.  The…
The trail head for Two Gun Bill's Saloon along the Gold Fever Off Road Trail in Holcomb Valley, San Bernardino County, California

Two Gun Bill’s Saloon

Located at stop 3 along the Gold Fever Off Road trail is the supposed location of Two Gun Bill's Saloon in Holcomb Valley, California. The…
Ubehebe Crater, Death Valley National Park, California - Photo by James L Rathbun

Ubehebe Crater

Ubehebe Crater is a volcanic crater located near Grapevine Canyon in Death Valley National Park in California. The crater is approximately 600 deep and one…
A metal headframe marks a vertical shaft in the mining district outside of Vanderbilt California.

Vanderbilt California – San Bernardino County Ghost Town

A metal headframe marks a vertical shaft in the mining district outside of Vanderbilt California. Located in the New York Mountains, Vanderbilt California was an…
Charles Wilbur's Grave located in Holcomb Valley, San Bernardino, California

Wilbur’s Grave

Charles Wilbur's Grave is a point of interest located in Holcomb Valley near the Holcomb Valley Campground, San Bernardino, California. Charles Wilbur's Grave located in…
ake Tuendae, an Oasis in the Mojave Desert is found at the end of Zzyzx Road off the I-15. Photograph by James L Rathbun

Zzyzx Road – Soda springs

Located south of Baker, CA on the edge of a large soda dry lake bed in the Mojave, Zzyzx Road is a short road which…