Cerro Gordo Ghost Town High Above the Owens Valley

In the Inyo Mountains high above the Owens Valley, Cerro Gordo Ghost Town, a once-booming mining town, sits abandoned and alone. It wasn’t always this way. Throughout the 1800s, Cerro Gordo (or the “Fat Hill”) was pumping out thousands of tons of high-grade silver, lead, and other metals. Pablo Flores made the first significant silver discovery near Buena Vista Peak. Not long after, hundreds of miners flooded into the area.

Mortimer Belshaw was a mining engineer credited with helping to establish many of the smelters, shops, and other businesses that sprouted up as word of the silver strike spread. He also built the first real road up the mountain. The rock that had to be cut through during its construction was yellow in color. Thus, the road became known as the Yellow Road.

It’s the same winding path you will need to take today to access Cerro Gordo. On the drive up, you can enjoy spectacular views of Owens Lake and the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains.

As you approach the town, you’ll see the remnants of one of the smelters Belshaw built. Unfortunately, the 1871 American Hotel was destroyed in a fire in 2020. The town’s owner is slowly rebuilding the hotel to current-day standards, including the installation of a sprinkler system to prevent fires. So far, the new foundation and the outer walls of the hotel are complete. When the interior is finished, visitors will be able to spend the night in the hotel.

It’s doubtful any mining town would survive long without a brothel, and Cerro Gordo stays true to tradition. She’s not as fine a shape as she once was, but “Lola’s Palace of Pleasure” still stands on its original site a century later. If only Lola could speak, the steamy stories she could no doubt tell!

The town’s saloon shared in the shenanigans after work in the mines was done. There were more than 150 bullet holes on the floor of the building. Perhaps the one thing that Cerro Gordo lacked (but could have used) was a police station.

It’s worth stopping in at Mortimer Belshaw’s private residence. Its bright red paint is now worn and faded, but it’s believed to be the oldest building in the town. Everywhere you wander in Cerro Gordo, you’ll find mining relics and bits and pieces of the town’s past. Of course, you can look at and even touch some of what you find lying around, but removing anything from the property is strictly prohibited.

Is it impossible to resist the urge to take a piece of California history home with you? Be warned that stolen souvenirs could bring you bad luck. Some California ghost towns are believed to hold a curse over those trying to take a piece of the town’s past with them. A few caretakers have even received bits of plates and nails in the mail with anonymous notes asking that they be returned to their original resting place!

Anyone interested in early mining machinery and techniques will be fascinated by a visit to Cerro Gordo. Most of the mines were open pits and relatively primitive. But old mine ore cars, safes, and drilling equipment are still on the site. Inside the Union Mill building is a relatively well-preserved and sizable air compressor.

There are ghost towns across America, and California is no exception. Some excellent places to visit are once-bustling towns that eventually found themselves on the wrong side of the boom-and-bust cycle. Why we are drawn to these remains something of a mystery. Nevertheless, visitors visit the deserted towns scattered across the deserts and hidden high in the California hills every year.

Getting to Cerro Gordo Ghost Town

The Cerro Gordo Ghost Town is privately owned, and you’ll need permission from the owner to access the property. Cerro Gordo Road passes through the ghost town. Do not enter any buildings unless you have permission. The current owner of Cerro Gordo is Brent Underwood. You can subscribe to his YouTube channel for information on visiting the town and the latest updates on the hotel’s rebuilding.

• Visitors can check out every day of the week from 9 am to 5 pm. There is no need to make an appointment. 4WD vehicle to drive 8 8-mile dirt road to Cerro Gordo Ghost Town.

If you plan to visit during the winter, please note that the town is situated at an elevation of over 8,000 feet. Heavy snowfall is common, and a 4-wheel drive vehicle is recommended for safe travel in and out of town. Cerro Gordo is approximately eight miles from the Owens Valley town of Keeler, a small community with around 60 residents.

Nearby Cerro Gordo Must-See

Keeler, California: Almost A Ghost Town

Keeler, California, was once a bustling town with a train station, a 300-foot pier, a public swimming pool, and several hotels. The city was initially called Hawley and later named Keeler after Julius M. Keeler. The town’s existence was partly due to the Cerro Gordo mines high above the Inyo Mountains. Today, the Keeler Carson and Colorado Railroad depot still stands. However, it is in a state of disrepair, but it is a must-see for railroad buffs. Keeler is located next to Owens Lake, and the road to Cerro Gordo is nearby.

Dirty Sock Hot Spring (Sox)

Dirty Socks Hot Spring is located on the southeast side of Owens Lake near Olancha, California. The spring consists of a sizeable concrete-lined pool fed by an underground spring. The natural hot springs water gives off a distinct odor that smells like dirty socks. While it is unclear how the springs got their name, legend has it that miners from the Cerro Gordo mine and prospectors used the thermal pool for their annual baths and to wash their dirty clothes. Socks were always lost in the pool, which gave off an unpleasant odor from the volcanic sulfur earth surrounding it.

Owens Valley Charcoal Kilns

The Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns, located in Owens Valley, California, near Highway 395, about 7 miles north of Cartago and 13 miles south of Lone Pine, are two beehive-shaped structures built in 1873 to produce charcoal for the Cerro Gordo silver and lead mine. Constructed from clay bricks and covered in plaster, they were essential for smelting ore, as charcoal burns hotter and longer than wood. Wood from Cottonwood Creek, processed at a nearby sawmill, was turned into charcoal in these kilns, then transported across Owens Lake via steamships like the Bessie Brady and Mollie Stevens to Keeler, and hauled up to the mine.