Exploring a sun-blasted little factory town on the western edge of Death Valley, where seemingly half the houses are abandoned, and an eerie sort of postapocalyptic miasma hangs over everything.
It's never easy to watch the way people portray my hometown. My parents grew up there, I grew up there...my family (parents, sibling, aunts, cousin's) still live there. Unless you're from there... you will never understand the beauty that is Trona. The work ethic, class, the morality of the people there...you cannot imagine. The sunsets, sunrises, the stars every night and thunder/lightening storms are.. for lack of a better word...majestic! When I was growing up there was a grocery store, movie theater, bowling alley, a huge swimming pool, an arcade...and all those houses were full of families. Children riding their bikes, climbing trees...running barefoot in that warm sand. Drugs hit my hometown hard that and certain changes in the plant brought a lot of hard times to the people there. A lot of people started leaving after graduating and starting lives elsewhere (myself included). There are areas of town (pioneer point) where a lot of people still reside and it doesn't look like the streets most people choose to show. I love that people have put Trona "on the map" so to speak... I just wish they really knew what the town and it's people were and are...the salt of the earth. ❤
Jamie ,I think that what WH was saying when she compared to Detroit.Financially and remnants of the destruction of our country by Greedy War Mongering Pigs...You discription sounds super cool and I'm sure after a year of two with Donny Tiny Hands it will go back to the good old days where money had some worth and jobs were plentiful! I grew up on E Coast,But been to the deserts of the west and fell in love with High Plains desert...I can picture everything you described.Very cool. I think WH wants to go back n camp, so write her and see if you can help with suggestion on her next visit...TY73s
I don't disagree with what you say Trona used to look like... But all that has changed... Abandoned houses are not a result of a good jobs available... Most workers at the Trona plants live in Ridgecrest... If Ridgecrest is a step up from Trona, that says a lot...
Thx for posting, Sarah. Bornand raised in Trona. I considered myself the luckiest kid in the world to grow up in Trona. Spent my entire childhood climbing the mountains around Pioneer Point, swimming at Valley Wells, and having the wide open desert as my backyard.
I didn't grow up in Trona but I grew up in the desert near Fort Irwin in a little shack and a travel trailer so I know the feeling. Nothing like the Mojave desert. Love every creosote bush in it.
Very nice little video of Trona. I was born in Ridgecrest and raised in Trona (31 years) as well as work in the plant. To understand the mindset and reasons for being here one would have to experience it. Most people are down to earth, and the beauty of the surrounding deserts are breath taking.
I agree with you Warren. Matter of fact as I mentioned to Jamie above, thinking of purchasing property here. From Northern California too! Though it has possibilities! Just have to think out of the box!
@eclemensen Well for sure the locals. Largest district if one like to call this town a city! Only thing yes one needs to get used to is the oppressive heat.
During the Great Depression, my dad's mother joined the Civilian Nurse Corps and his dad was left to raise him in Lynnwood, with no job they rode the rails to find work. Grandpa left my dad with a family in Trona to stay while he searched for work, grandpa paid them for dad's room and board. He said it was a hard life for a kid. He told me he played football there too, so now you have revealed to me, just 80 years later, what a horrible life my dad had in that place. The family was nice enough but dad knew he didnt belong. He had joy in his heart the day he left, he said he rode a train, it was winter, and in the caboose there was a warm fire in an amazing little stove. Trona really set the rest of my dad's life as a measure of the worst of times, except that football field, it kept him sane.. thank you for posting this.
Trona is actually a pretty magical place. Besides the pinnacles, Ballarat, and the Panamints, it's worth the drive to see the Seales Valley Gem-o-Rama (the Gem and Mineral Society opens up to vendors from all over the country who have material from all over the world, plus tours of the lake), as well as the annual homecoming, featuring the biggest bonfire you will probably ever see. Most of the people out there are very cool. I try to get out there at least once or twice a year to visit friends.
Good to read. Thinking of purchasing property here believe it or not. My Wife & I spent a few hours in Trona we too found it charming in a funny sort of way! Need variety with only one restaurant. Though the food was delicious though & yes Staff friendly too!
Far too many small towns have been hit by the scourge of drugs, alcohol and economic downturn. Grew up in a small NY town that has been frozen in time since the 70s. Most of the hard working people of my time have passed away or moved on. The small stores have closed and most businesses have left. Drugs filter in to fill the desperate hours . I see far too much of this throughout the country
Thanks for your positive portrayal of Trona, Wonderhussy. I was born and raised in Trona. Up until around 1980 when the new Argus plant, and later NAFTA, changed things, Trona was an amazing place to live and grow up. I still have scars on my knees from playing football on our dirt field (which we are proud of, btw). Interestingly, my wife was born and raised in Detroit, so between us, we can both claim to come from forgotten places.
What on earth brought you to Trona? I live in Palmdale and the first time our family went to Death Valley, we went through Trona. This had to be in the mid 70s. At that time, most of the homes and businesses were going strong. You're right about the sulpher smell. They used to mine that there also. A friend of mine lives in Ridgecrest and during my last visit we went through Trona just for something to do. I was surprised at how most of the businesses and houses are vacant. Concerning the local artist who lost his entire family to a drunk driver. I can relate as I lost my fiance to a drunk driver just two months before the wedding date. Love your videos. Keep on exploring.
Once upon a time I lived in Lancaster, California, and I would drive through Trona on the way to Death Valley. Trona, made Rosamond, California, look like Beverly Hills. Just one guy's viewpoint (side comment). I never stopped in Trona, so the blight shown in the video wasn't totally apparent to me. I see Trona as an investment opportunity. If you like to ride your motorcycle or utility vehicle, go shooting, rocking hunting, etc., I bet this is a cheap place to live. Four retired couples from So Cal could buy the entire town. BTW, I'm not sure why folks think you should have a PhD in every place you visit. You give a top level review of the places you visit and I appreciate it.
+Mach 1 thank you! I think some of the locals were offended at the way I portrayed their town, and understandably so ... I just sort of hit on the big things I read on Wikipedia, and didn't really dig down and talk to any of the locals
@@Wonderhussy I didn't feel you said anything derogatory about Trona. Just showing it to us the way you were seeing it and pointing out the nice things you found. Plus you ended by saying you loved the place and would like to come back. I don't know how that would offend anyone.
Your closing comments were so resentful towards the town.. it is a cool place and I enjoyed reading the comments from the people who grew up there and all their fond memories. It sounds like it was a great place to grow up and unfortunately many had to move due to the lack of jobs etc . But to many , it’s filled with great times ! Much respect to the folks that still live there keeping it alive !
You say you love Trona, yet all you show are the bad parts. I grew up in Trona, moved away, and just recently moved back. I love this town and the people in it. So come back and show everyone just how cool this place is and what it's really like. Specifically Homecoming weekend here is truly an experience. Everyone comes home and you can see how real football is played...in the dirt!
Trona is a cool place to drive through. I stopped there for gas about a year ago and the wind was blowing about 50 mph. The pinicales are definitely worth the side trip.
My ex wife and I almost bought a house there back in '93.Potash is processed at the plant,at night they remove the screens from the stacks and you wake up to your car covered on soda ash.I have known many families that lived in Trona all their lives and all all of them are dead from cancer.Not All the houses are abandoned, the plant buys them up to force the people out. Kind of scary.
It is just not the cars covered, but everything else with the fly ash and mainly in Trona, proper. It is really bad in winter time when the air is moist and heavy.
My high school played at Trona HS on their dirt field, many years ago. It was a long ride through the desert, & their team was badass. Trona used to look a lot better (years ago) & yes, it smelled a LOT worse...sulphur smell would make you gag. BTW, if you have a 4WD vehicle, go up into the Panamint Mtns., you can access them through the canyons starting around Ballarat...old mines to explore on the way up, piñon pines & views of Butte Valley at the top. I'm glad I found your channel, I grew up out in the Mojave Desert...old memories. Keep it up!
i went to school in boron in the 60s. i remember three of our cheerleaders getting killed on the way home. i went to visit relatives in trona, and stayed there for awhile.
good news.. my mother is going back to Trona for her class of 59 reunion... i told her about this place... she will visit and actually knock on the door... thank you.
@@johnnystaccata You're absolutely right. Much of Chicago is a beautiful and quite affluent. A majority of the working class neighborhoods are relatively safe and comfortable places to call home. Ofcourse all of this is boring and expected so none of it makes the news.
My grandma lived there , I would visit from the late sixties , early 70's 80's and last visit mid 90's.... Valley wells rocked and I remember the "sharks" grafitti on the rocks on the old highway from Ridgecrest (where I was born)
Thanks for giving us a video tour of the newest, most popular and talked-about town in California, Wonderhuzzy Girl. Ever since the double major earthquakes we experienced here in So Cal, Trona is on the news every night! Alot of people have never even heard of Trona, but thanks to the epicenter being in Ridgecrest and Trona, these two unheard-of cities are on the nightly news these days. We are scared of further aftershocks here in So Cal, and seismologists predict more aftershocks to come. Anyhow - Trona is probably very beautiful in the spring time and the winter time. I wouldn't want to go there in the dead of summer. I hear that temperatures soar up to 120 degrees and HOTTER out there!!! OMG!!! They call Trona the gateway to death. That's only partly true. Trona is the gateway to Death Valley. They also call Trona the gateway to hell, but that's only a matter of opinion. * Ahem * ahem * We have a friend who lives full-time in Trona, and he got on the news twice this week, in regards to recovering from the Earthquake. He says that they're surviving because of the aid sent to them from other cities, and he's humble and grateful for any help that they can get. During these times when more and more people are becoming homeless in droves and droves in LA and the OC, why don't we rebuild some of those vacant homes in Trona, and move the homeless into them? Just only send the homeless ones who really want to go and start a fresh life in Trona. It would be a nice way to restore the population in Trona, and drive out the crime. Where there are people who work and have a strong work ethic, there is recovery for the tiny, desolate town of Trona. I hear Trona is very beautiful - IF you're the type that loves the desert, and the high winds that sometime blow through there. God bless Trona, and everyone who calls Trona home. X O
I visited Trona last week, looking at a home I was considering buying. I had never been before. Very unique place. If there weren’t so many abandoned homes with piles of junk strewn about them, I would keep looking there for my next home. I love the other-worldly-ness. Had I known there was a nicer neighborhood, I would have driven through it.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I just purchased a property in Trona. All on one's perspectives & what one's looking for. I don't regret it only thing I feel bad is it's not my primary residence. Why I haven't had much time too getting it habitable if you will. Either way yes Trona has possibilities.
@@sdriza Actually very well thank you. Just need to find someone to install some flooring for me. Have the material though the Home Depot Installers punk out on me!
The "Trona Pinnacles" are in Trona, as is the great "Searles Salt Lake", and the "Trona Railway". Trona is off the planet, a very strange locale at the back of beyond. You don't want to live in Trona, but you do need to visit Trona. It's like a trip to the moon, without the rocket. Every October, they have their GEM-A-RAMA Day. The mineral plant discharges a year's worth of the crystals and other gems, that they've sucked up in their mining operations. They spit these back on to the salt lake bed and hundreds of folks wade out in boots to collect buckets full of these beauties. There's also a tour of the plant and its railway facilities. That's twelve hundred 70-foot rail cars loaded or unloaded each week. Definitely worth a day in the blazing sun. Mid-October usually isn't unbearably hot in Trona. But bring water and ice. (They've just had a 7.1 earthquake, so check if the annual GEM-A-RAMA and plant tour are still on this year.)
I drove through Trona on my way to the Panamint Valley a month ago. I didn't explore it as you have, but have to say it intrigued me. It is so arid, abandoned, yet not empty. So, thanks for digging deeper and sharing your thoughts. I'm also a fan of the desert 🏜️
I used to live at the Barker Ranch as a kid in 1954. We would come down Goler Wash once a month to Trona to do our monthly grocery shopping. Back then there were two towns. One was called Trona and the other, Argus. I guess Trona won the competition as more appealing. I think Argus smelled the worst! The odor was hardly tolerable, like pungent rotten eggs. But now the filters I believe have gotten better. Ballarat Bob spent his last days there in Trona. He was the one who built the corral at the Barker Ranch, which I visited back in '68 just before Manson moved in and ran Ballarat Bob off who was the caretaker there... I knew Panimint Russ, (Russel's Camp) Clint and Stella Anderson and Emmet Harder who discovered the Lost Mormon Mine at the top of Manly Peak Also met Seldom Seen Slim as a boy who lived in a hogan in Ballarat and smoked dried burro dung mixed with his Prince Albert's in a can. I don't think it compared to the weed that came later!
I visit trona once a year. I’m from NH, but my mom grew up in trona and she still has some friends there. I’m assuming most people watching this video know what trona is, so I have a question, Have you been to the Trails Restaurant, and if not, WHY NOT? It’s the BEST
Great video!! :) Back in the 80's, this place was actually owned by and operated under the name Kerr-McGee chemical, right there in Trona. I worked for a company in Santa Fe Springs, CA that supplied parts to them. At that time, Kerr-McGee Trona was our best customer. I have never seen a video of Trona before. Looks like the land that time forgot..LOL!! I love your videos :) Keep making them :)
I did not grow up in Trona but I did live part of my life in Detroit and prior to the 1967 riots Detroit was very nice. There are still very nice homes in Detroit and the high schools in Detroit have grass so the football team could play. The automobile industry is still there Fotd and GM.
HI, I'm digging on your channel. You really need to come back to Trona for the rock and Gem show/festival "Gem-O-Rama". Look into it!! Also, I can see you explore this area. Many films and movies are filmed close by. Look into the pinnacles and the Alabama hills up north. Also, because of the close proximity to three military installations and research facilities (China Lake-Navy, Edwards-Air Force, Ft Erwin-Army, Gold Stone-Nasa) There are X-Plane crash sites and a number of other points of interest. One last thing, Burro Schmitt tunnel would be a great place to make an episode. I hope this helps.
Sarah Jane...The artist house there in town is the home of William "Willy" Fuller who's family was killed by a drunk driver , but you were mistaken in saying that his mother died...she did not. William used to live 3 houses down from my family in Huntington Beach and we were very good friends with them. They were a lot like us, being they had 2 boys and 2 girls, Susan, Willy, Darleene, and David. His Dad and mine were best friends, and we often went fishing together, one time, all the way to Puertocitos Mexico. I can't believe that I stumbled across your video, because I just recently found out that "Willy" lived in Trona after doing a Google search and found an article detailing his wife's obituary. You might want to take a look. Coincidentally, he met her at the Montgomery Pass Casino, (another one of your past destinations and reviews) Small world, huh ? Anyway, I'm headed for Beatty for New Years Eve and will be stopping by Willy's house to take him a tape I made that has some snipetts of us when we were kids, including his Dad and his 2 sisters and brother. My Mom got out an old copy of our films for Christmas 3 days ago, after my sister found his video online and it brought her to tears , ALL of this happening in the last few days...unreal . Happy Trails, Sara Jane ,and remember...the hills still have eyes.
I was born in Ridgecrest, about 30 miles from Trona. I lived there for the first 8 years of my life. So sad to see the state that the town is in now. I hope you got to try Cactus Cooler soda while you were there! It's the best! Thanks for the cool video!
Wow Trona never looked so good back in the early 70s. Can't believe that this toilet bowl experienced a boom in growth. In the 70s there was no gas stations or any stores of anykind. You had to go into Ridgecrest or Barstow for all your shopping needs
Aw my dad and grandpa used to take all of us kids out here once a year in the late 80s to go mining on the lake bed. I still have the giant salt crystals we found.
I hauled a lot of soda ash out of that plant , back then it was Kerr McGee into Gallo glass plant in Modesto , Ca . Thanks for the video it brings back a lot of memories .
Cool landscape at the end and to think I was so close to that place on my 7 week Joshua Tree road trip! I filled up at a Shell/Subway station in Pearsonville on my way up to Olancha...I spent 3 nights at the Oasis or Rustic Oasis? motel where the movie "Bug" was filmed with Harry Connick Jr. and Ashley Judd. I would sit outside each night with my Jack & Coke watching the desert sunset...WOW!
Are you prepping us for your new real estate purchase? I spent time in Trona with friends in the early 70s. Nice people. But it did have a strong odor. Tell us soon. Where is your new property , Lone Pine, Big Pine , Olancha, Trona. I love following your adventures. We were 395 travelers in our younger days.
nice video! i was just there for the first time a few weeks and this place fascinated me so much i decided to look into the town more on youtube. 👍🏼 thanks for the video!
It's kind of like Silver Peak but they mine Lithium. We called Silver Peak Lithuania when we first saw it. The pinnacles at Trona were in an episode of the original Lost in Space. They drove the chariot around there to shoot the scene.
I did a similar video of Trona, back in October. I posted it on the Explorers of the Mojave Desert site. I was immediately castrated by a couple of women who live there, and took offense at the video. I tried being diplomatic and telling them that I didn't mean to offend anyone. They were bound to tear into me, until there were only bones left. I bit my tongue and removed the video, just to keep the peace. I LOVE your videos. Keep up the good work!
Actually thinking of purchasing property here. Visited Trona a couple of months ago & it is in it's own sort of way very charming. So were the people I met while dining @ the only restaurant in town! Only drawback is not it's distance from real shopping or medical if you will. More so the oppressive heat. I was fortunate to check Trona out in the winter time! So I know much different!
Just past through Trona last Friday 3/10 on the way to Goler Wash, Mengel Pass and then on to Saline Valley (YIPPIE!) for a long weekend. Was thinking of you at the springs. Small but engaging group of soakers; good libations and excellent weather!.....
you are one cool cat, wonder... full of natural beauty. Thanks for taking us along on your travels. Our daughter is also in love with your style. She is a motocross champion and a very advanced pole dancer (vertical pole gymnastics). Have taken her rock climbing with me several times. She wants to come down and hire you, to take her on a good hike! How does she get a hold of you? THANKS AGAIN
I attended Teacher College in Chico, CA in 83/84 studying for a Teaching Credential...Often one of the Instructors would mention Trona as the worst place to get your first Teaching job, but it was the Highest paid for new Teachers...
Interesting that I feel the same way about Trona. I just have a weird fascination with desolate towns and places. Plus it’s a nice alternate way to get to Death Valley as opposed to going up to Lone Pine and catching the 190 up there
Just a footnote. The dirt field was just like one in Juneau, AK. (yes the capitol of Alaska). The two teams would line up shoulder to shoulder and walk the length of the field picking up rocks just before the game. The kicker is that Juneau receives an avg of 100" on rain each year. The field was mud not dirt. Teams coming in to play had to fly to Juneau just like the pros in the lower 48. Love you stuff.
We were there this past Friday on our way out to Death Valley, but only stopped in for gas. I don't know how folks live out in places like that. I couldn't do it.
The company is doing well. The employees are among the highest paid in a hundred mile radius. Before 1990, the company required management and supervisors to live in town. When they lifted that rule, everyone fled 25 miles to Ridgecrest. There are some wonderful people and some very nice homes in Trona. What you have been driving thru is the very old company housing from the 1930s which was abandoned long ago as people upgraded. Although, a lot of what you see is "middle class squalor" where people who make plenty of money choose to live this way....
Trona is NOT the Detroit of the Desert. That award goes to Mojave. Trona is a town that has fallen on hard economic times. But is still relatively safe. I would have no problem walking their streets at 2am. The same can't be said for Mojave where I was born and raised from 1965 to 1996. My family was 3rd generation during a time when the town was comparable to Mayberry. There were several large employers all of which provided good union jobs to the 3,000 residents who called Mojave their home. Everyone knew their neighbors who could be trusted if you left your house unlocked or your keys in the car. Kids played in the street from sunrise to sunset. Not anymore. One by one all of Mojave's plants have closed. Thanks to enviromental and tax laws that drove them out of state. The freeway bypass finished off what was left. Unlike Trona, the houses weren't abandoned. Instead, cheap rent brought in scores of ghetto trash from Las Angeles whose gang ties followed them to the high desert. Some refer to Mojave as North Compton. However, I like the title "Detroit of the Desert".
I love Trona. I don't know why. It just feels some kind of way. I consider buying a property there, but I often hear from people about issues with air quality.
From Wikipedia. "Trona was officially established in 1913, as a self-contained company town, wholly operated by its resident mining company to house employees. Employees were paid in company scrip instead of cash. The mining company also built a library, a scrip-accepting for-profit grocery store, a school, basic housing, and minimal recreation facilities. " "Today, Searles Valley Minerals Inc.'s soda ash processing plant remains the largest firm in town. Other operations nearby include evaporative salt extraction from the dry lake bed's surface, and a lime quarry. Searles Valley Minerals is the largest employer in Trona, and many employees live in Ridgecrest, California, commuting daily to Trona." So it is basically a mining town they mine several different minerals. Real estate is cheap, but not as cheap as you would think. I saw a place on Zillow for 12,000 most are higher.
Don't know if you read much but a great book I read once, Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon. He traveled the backs roads of America visiting small towns and learning about the locals. Great book.
Trona isnt a bad place at all!!!! I live in ridgecrest and theres so much beauty!!! They LITERALLY have waterfalls!!!! there are so many nice houses too you just have to know where to find them. the town hasnt gone down its just particular as to what is actually needed instead of having 5 subways in town like Ridgecrest. So many great people are raised there and the entire town has each others backs i love going even just to go to trails!!
I had a geologist tell me that every known element can be found in the Trona dry lake bed. I don't know if I believe that, but I think of that conversation every time I see that area. I absolutely love the high desert, especially the area around Ridgecrest. Man, I wish I could move out there.
Yeah, he did not mean that literally. I lot of elements are toxic so the people of Trona would be dying off. Some elements can only be made in a lab, a super nova or something even more powerful such a neutron stars colliding. Some elements only last a split second. Many would kill pretty quick, like Caesium, Plutonium, Francium, Plonium. Even more common elements such as Lead, Mercury, and Arsenic are very toxic, although in nature they are usually bound to something to keep them somewhat safe. Still, if burned, the vapors could be toxic or carcinogenic, so it would be interesting to know exactly what is out there.
Next time you are in trona visit the old cemetery its on A street and 7th street, I live across the street from it, and the cemetery itself is very creepy.
Whenever my family and I would drive through Trona, we would count how many people we saw, cause it always seemed liked such a run-down ghost town, though it is surrounded by a beautiful desert landscape
It's a 'dreamscape'. The haunting music from 10:20 fits the dream, sets a sad mood to compliment the sad art museum curators story. The whole town is an archaeological 'dig' of what this age looked like. Preserved in dry alkali dust on its way to be entoumbed again. Thanks for the dream SaraJane. I liked it. Glad I've never been there but I think we've ALL been somewhere with elements like Trona. Plus I learned about the chemistry of the one factory town that makes 'washing soda'. An ingredient in manufacturing glass, chemicals, paper, detergents, and textiles. I didn't catch what you said the town smelled like. It set me to wondering how all these dead houses can be saved, and the town be resurrected to a garden spot. (I got nuthin;)
my Dad was stationed at Trona in 1942, it was part of the desert warfare training center he helped build an airfield there, after being trained there they were put on a train in L.A. given winter wool clothing and went all the way to Kentucky where they were put on another train and sent back west to San Francisco where they got on a ship and went to the Philippines... And people thing Government waste is something NEW...
Born there. Brother played football there, he had no choice, there were only that many kids in town they played offense and defense every last one. Everyone went to that church. Kerr-McGee was the owner of this company town which sold or moved on but Trona died. Cars would rot from the top down. One of the Manson buddies lived couple streets over found out years later, so true that. Ridgecrest is more China Lake Naval something.
Trona reminds me of places like Bombay Beach as well as Detroit. Places that had a vibrant economy at one point in the past but for one reason or another the economy died or slowed and many home owners, unable to sell at anything like what they paid for it, are locked in. Others, with nothing, move there because its cheap. This is what more of the middle class can expect in the coming decades...
I was born in that little town. Many years ago of course. when my wife and I go to June Lake, I always remind her and my daughter that I was born there in the 40's. they roll their eyes and when I say, lets just look at it, I'm always out voted. Some day I guess, I should go back for a look see.
Lived here all my life, this town is crazy and unique but you probably told 3 true things about the place. The big thing that annoyed me is the "football" field you showed was literally just a Feild next the the actually Trona Football Pit... if your really interested in stuff like this you should probably get to know the real facts of the town and you'll be SO much more interested!! I promise!
+Tabitha Valdez I'm sorry, I read the Wikipedia entry and quoted that ..I understand there's a lot of disputed info there; I'll have to go back and redo the video sometime. I certainly didn't mean to malign Trona, I actually think it's a great place!
