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Randsburg-Redrock Road

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Randsburg-Redrock Road is located in the Mojave Desert of eastern Kern County in Fremont Valley.  The corridor mostly originated in 1873 as part of the Searles Brothers stage road between Mojave and their Borax plant in Searles Valley.  The remaining balance of the road east of Garlock was plotted after the opening of the Yellow Aster Mine and creation of Randsburg in 1896.  Randsburg-Redrock Road begins at US Route 395 near the community of Randsburg and terminates 20.5 miles to the west at California State Route 14.  




Part 1; the history of Randsburg-Redrock Road

What is now modern day Randsburg-Redrock Road was partially a segment of the western Searles Brothers stage road.  Said roadway connected from the Searles Borax Plant at Searles Valley west to Mojave beginning in 1873.  The road utilized a passage through Fremont Valley wedged between the Rand Mountains and El Paso Mountains.  The western Searles Brothers stage road can be seen on the 1882 Bancroft's map of California. 


In April 1895 Gold was discovered at the Yellow Aster Mine near Rand Mountain south of the Searles Brothers stage road.  In December 1895 the Rand Mining District was established which led to the formation of Rand Camp.  Rand Camp was located north of the Yellow Aster Mine and was quickly renamed as "Randsburg."  

A spur east of the Searles Brothers stage road would be constructed soon after the establishment of Randsburg.  Garlock was plotted near the junction of the Searles Brothers stage road and the Randsburg Road.  Eugene Garlock had set up a small community centered around a stamp mill built in 1896 to service ore from the Yellow Aster Mine.  

For a brief time Garlock would compete with Randsburg in terms of being an important hub servicing the Rand Mining District.  Garlock would lose much of the importance it had when the Kramer-Randsburg Railroad was completed by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway circa 1898.  The Randsburg Railroad was constructed from Kramer Junction north to the community of Johannesburg which was located a short distance east of Randsburg.  

Modern Randsburg-Redrock Road can be seen on the 1915 United States Geological Survey map of Searles Lake.  The roadway can be seen originating at future US Route 395 just east of Randsburg.  The blue pin indicates where the roadway picked up Garlock Road and continued west on the former Searles Brothers stage road towards what is now California State Route 14 (former US Route 6) near Redrock State Park. 




Part 2; a drive on Randsburg-Redrock Road 

Pictured below is the western terminus of Garlock Road at Randsburg-Redrock Road.  Traffic can turn sharply left to go eastward towards Randsburg and US Route 395.  Westbound traffic makes a soft transition from Garlock Road onto Randsburg-Redrock Road towards California State Route 14. 


From Garlock Road the course of westbound Randsburg-Redrock Road takes 12.1 miles to reach California State Route 14.  The corridor often has dramatic views of storms in the southern Sierra Nevada range.  The corridor intersects Neuralia Road just prior to terminating at California State Route 14.  













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