Trona Pinnacles
Searles Valley / near Ridgecrest · near Ridgecrest / Trona · California Desert
Stargazing
At a glance
- Best season
- Fall–spring (cooler); summer heat harsh; go near new moon
What is here
- Highlights
- milky-way · astrophoto
- Landscape
- desert
- Amenities
- 500+ surreal tufa spires · Bortle-2 Mojave darkness · Free dispersed BLM camping · A film-famous alien landscape
- Best for
- Surreal, dark, little-known astrophotography
- Features
- Otherworldly tufa-spire foregrounds · Some of the Mojave's darkest skies · Free dispersed camping · A hidden astrophotography gem
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Rough dirt access road — impassable when wet; check conditions · Remote — no services, water or cell; carry everything · Hot in summer, cold nights year-round · Uneven terrain in the dark — bring red light & good footwear
- Beginner friendly
- No
Stargazing detail
- Designation
- informal
- Reach
- moderate
- Darkness
- 5
- Sky notes
- An otherworldly forest of tufa spires under some of the Mojave's darkest skies — over 500 ancient calcium-carbonate towers rising from a dry lakebed, a surreal, little-known astrophotography paradise that's doubled as an alien planet on film
- Stats note
- National Natural Landmark; ~Bortle 2; 500+ tufa spires on a dry lakebed
- Campground
- Yes
- Intl tip
- One of California's most surreal, least-known dark-sky gems — a National Natural Landmark where 500+ ancient tufa spires rise from a Mojave dry lakebed near Ridgecrest under ~Bortle 2 skies. Genuinely alien (it's doubled as another planet on film), and a hidden astrophotography paradise pairing deep darkness with extraordinary foregrounds, far from the park crowds. Access is a rough dirt road (impassable when wet); it's remote with no services, water, or cell — carry everything, check conditions, bring a red light and good footwear, and dress for cold nights.
- Nickname
- 500 alien tufa spires under some of the Mojave's darkest skies — astrophotography's best-kept secret
The guide
Trona Pinnacles is one of California's most surreal and least-appreciated dark-sky treasures — a National Natural Landmark wher…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Trona Pinnacles — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 35.62, -117.37