Cerro Gordo Road

Cerro Gordo Road is a white-knuckle climb that rises 5,000 vertical feet in just 8 miles, switchbacking up loose shale and granite to reach California’s best-preserved silver mining ghost town. The road clings to impossibly steep mountainsides above Owens Lake, with washouts and rockfall keeping things interesting while the Inyo Mountains unfold in your mirrors. At 8,500 feet, the intact ghost town of Cerro Gordo waits with original buildings, mining equipment, and panoramic views across Death Valley.

This is serious 4WD territory requiring lockers, low gearing, and nerves of steel — the road has claimed vehicles and lives over the years. Summer through fall offers the best conditions, though afternoon thunderstorms can turn the route deadly slick. No permits required, but the ghost town is privately owned with limited access. What you get is one of the West’s most dramatic approaches to a genuine ghost town, plus bragging rights to completing one of California’s most technical mountain roads. Not for the faint of heart or stock vehicles.