TRONA, Calif. — At the bottom of Searles Valley in San Bernardino County sits the lonely mining town of Trona. Around 1,600 people live and work in this sun-beaten community, but you wouldn’t know it by the vast emptiness of this place.
If, however, you follow the mineral piles of borax, soda ash and salt out of town, they will lead you to another world, according to Bureau of Land Management geologist Kevin Schrecengost.
“This is kind of what people thought the moon looked like before we got there,” said Schrecengost.
Standing tall above the Searles Valley floor are the Trona Pinnacles, a towering series of alien-looking rocks.
“Basically, everything you see around here is made of one mineral and that is calcite,” said Schrecengost. “These pinnacles are what we call tufas, which is a type of limestone.”
The Searles Valley was once a giant terminal lake, which means snow melt from the mountains fills up the lake, but there is no outlet like a river to release the water.
“Yes, like a very big puddle,” said Schrecengost.
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Over time, minerals from the mountains made their way into the ancient Searles lake through underground springs and cracks in the earth. Eventually, over a 12,000-year period, the sun evaporated all of the water, leaving the minerals and the Tufas behind.
“The tallest tufas here are roughly 30 meters or 90 feet,” said Schrecengost.
Due to their size and unique shape, the Trona Pinnacles have been featured in a number of movies. It’s been in Planet of the Apes, Star Trek V, and it’s also been featured in music videos by Rihanna and Lady Gaga.
Before Hollywood discovered the Trona Pinnacles, the Searles family found them in the late 1800s.
“They were trying to mine for borax and other materials, but they didn’t quite understand what was underneath them,” said Schrecengost.
The tufas are made of calcite, which is worthless, but the ground around the tufas were loaded with borax and another valuable mineral called Trona, which is used in glassmaking, paper products, detergents and baking soda.
“It’s one of the largest Trona operations in the western US,” said Schrecengost.
The mining operation is far from the Trona Pinnacles, which are protected by the Bureau of Land Management. It's a good thing because tufas this size are fragile and only found in a handful of places around the world.
The Trona Pinnacles are free to visit. Be advised the road is rough and may require a high clearance vehicle depending on the time of year. For more information, check out the Bureau of Land Management’s website.
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