Down a Joshua Tree lined road, not far from Death Valley, lies an old mining town gone bust.Â
Not far from Death Valley National Park‘s western valley lies the little mining town of Darwin, California. I was introduced to Darwin through the park’s brochure. A friend told me I should go out and explore out that way, especially after my enjoyable visit to Rhyolite, Nevada. I didn’t have time that trip, or the next. However, on my latest visit in January 2020, I made the long journey out to the boomtown gone bust of Darwin.
The road to Darwin (about 5,000 ft) is much higher in elevation than Death Valley’s Badwater Basin, which lies below sea level.
Joshua Trees along the roadway. They only grow at certain elevations and climatic conditions. Super nifty plants.
Darwin was founded in 1874 after silver was found, bringing hundreds of miners to the area. Darwin’s population peaked out at 1,000 in 1876. Unlike many of the other boomtowns around, the silver mine in Darwin stayed open longer, keeping people in Darwin longer. After the high-grade ore ran out, there was enough low-grade ore to keep the mine open off and on until the 1970s. During WWI and WWII, Darwin’s lead and zinc mines were heavily mined for their ores. Every bit of metal was valuable during wartime.
Today, Darwin is a beaten-up town, with a bit of interesting art (check out the art scene). I just rolled through the town. It was a bit eerie honestly. No one was around, which was not that surprising since there was only 43 people living there during the last 2010 census.
Darwin’s town sign with a town population of 50 or so…
The main drag into town.
Why clean up the old telephone poles when you can just leave them in someone’s yard?
Old fashioned truck that appears to be in working order in front of someone’s house. Piles of logs for heating in the winter. It was chilly at this elevation.
Two homes of two different eras rotting away side by side.
An interesting collection of vehicles abandoned here.
I’m not sure why there is a little horse on the fence in front on this house. This town is strange.
Probably the only normal house in town.
No trespassing. Private.
The bottle tree is pretty cool.
There is a tire around that Joshua Tree.
I love all the old cars.
Old miners’ cabins and old cars from a more prosperous era.
The Outpost, the old Darwin Post Office/gas station.
Very, very western.
Darwin Station, which I think is an art studio now, plus a very tiny town library.
Can’t forget the hopping Darwin Dance Hall!
The current Darwin Post Office. Very festive.
Driving back out of town, you can see the remnants of the mine and all the old miner cabins.
The long road back to the highway back to Death Valley.
Darwin, California is a weird, quirky place to road trip to. I went because I like to go to ghost towns, as do many other people. Darwin is technically still living, but it still seemed as desolate as a ghost town though. Didn’t see a soul.
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Drove out there a few years ago on my way out to DV. Interestingly weird town. Didn’t see a soul either.
Did you go into the Post Office at all. I think it closes early, around 11:30 am. Got to be somebody there early on a weekday.
I didn’t see it open. Must have been later in the day.
I want to go there.. i think I could live there…
When I was in High School, back in the early 80’s, I decided to go on a Death Valley adventure with some friends in our jeeps and trucks. We ventured into Darwin, which was a bit more bustling them, and we were, quite literally, ran out of town. We tried to camp on the outskirts, just over night, though asked to leave by a truckload of residents, who had not problem confronting eight young men, who were simply hanging out around a fire. Not wanting a fight or confrontation, we agreed to leave in the morning, which we did. They did not take kindly to us being there, taking pictures or wondering about the town. It was a truly strange experience where I didn’t feel overly threatened, though certainly not welcome. I wanted to see what the town was like all these years later and ran across the pictures from 2020.