Little Lake Post Office - Postmark: GONE - California

AbandonedRoad TripRoadside AttractionHwy 395CaliforniaMojave DesertiPhone PhotographyStop Graffiti

Oct 18

So, you’re driving north on Hwy 395, you’ve left Pearsonville and the Hubcap lady miles behind. What’s next? If you’re a regular, you know. If you’re new to the highway, you’re in for a treat.

You’ll see the rolling hills on your left and the black basalt ridge on your right. You’re at the beginning of the Eastern Sierra Scenic Biway, nearing the entrance to the Owens Valley. As you approach the top of this little rise, you’ll realize that you’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of roadside memories. At the signpost up ahead, there’s a turn-off for Little Lake Road. Take it.

Just before the road ends, there’s a small building. It’s green. It’s deteriorating quickly. And idiots vandalize it. See it before it’s totally gone. It’s all that remains of what was once a neat little settlement known as Little Lake.

Little Lake dates back to the very early 1900s. At its heigh, it was quite a settlement, including a Garage, Cafe, Hotel, Train Station, Post Office, General Store and homes. A favorite stopping place for folks traveling south to north or north to south.

As a certified Exploratographer (yes, I made that up), my favorite pastime is driving long distances to take photos and video of places like this.

I’ve got a long list of places to visit and unfortunately, a lot of such spots disappear at an alarming rate due to … progress? Fire takes a lot of them as well.

There are bits and pieces of this and that scattered about the area and up on the hill from whence this photo came.

On the way out, I stopped near the large piles of rocks that flank each side of the dirt road. If you look closely, you can see various messages from back in the day.

“Cigars and Groceries - Olancha”

An old postcard, probably from the 1940s, showing the gas station, general store and Little Lake Hotel and Cafe. I think the post office building was somewhere behind the hotel, but am not positive.