Trona Pinnacles

Geography

The Trona Pinnacles, at an elevation of 1800 ft above sea level, are located approximately 10.0 mi south of Trona, California. Access to the site is from a BLM dirt road (RM143) that leaves State Highway 178, about 7.7 mi east of the intersection of State Highway 178 and the Trona-Red Mountain Road. The 5.0 mi long dirt road from State Highway 178 to the Pinnacles is usually accessible to 2-wheel drive vehicles; however, the road may be closed during the winter months after a heavy rain.

The Pinnacles are located within 3800 acre of federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Trona Pinnacles are inside a BLM Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) designated to protect and preserve unique resources.

Geology

During the Pleistocene, massive runoff spilled from the Sierra Nevada into a chain of inland seas. The system of interconnected lakes stretched from Mono Lake to Death Valley and included Searles Lake.

Deep beneath Searles Lake, calcium-rich groundwater and alkaline lake water combined to grow tufa formations. Similar (modern) formations can be found today at Mono Lake to the north.

Known as tufa pinnacles, these strange shapes formed underwater 10,000 to 100,000 years ago. The pinnacles did not all form at the same time. They are divided by age and elevation into three groups. The groups are dubbed the northern, middle, and southern groups because they formed during the three ice ages.

The northern group is the youngest at 11,000 to 25,000 years old. These are the best examples of what are known as tufa towers. The northern group also include shapes called tombstones, ridges, and cones. The small middle group claims only 100 spires, but boasts the tallest "tower", rising 140 ft. The southern group includes 200 tufa formations aged 32,000 to 100,000 years old.

People have historically given names to the strange forms. These ancient spires were once dubbed "Cathedral City". Geologically, the pinnacles are classified into four general shapes. Towers are taller than they are wide and rise 30-40 ft. Tombstones are stubby and squat and rise 20-30 ft. Most tombstones are in the northernmost tufa formations. Ridges are massive toothy tufa ruins. Trona has three ridges, one in the northern tufa cluster and two in the middle group. One ridge is 800 ft long and 500 ft wide and 140 ft tall. Cones are less than 10 ft tall. Dumpy and mounded, cone shapes lie scattered throughout the Trona Pinnacles.

In media

The Pinnacles are recognizable in more than a dozen hit movies. Over thirty film projects a year are shot among the tufa pinnacles, including backdrops for car commercials and sci-fi movies and television series such as Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Disney's Dinosaur, The Gate II: Trespassers, Lost in Space, and Planet of the Apes. Music videos for Rihanna's 2016 single "Sledgehammer" and Lady Gaga's 2020 single "Stupid Love". The album cover for Phoebe Bridgers' studio album "Punisher" was shot at the Pinnacles.

References

References

1. "Trona Pinnacles".
2. David Kelly, [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-trona4oct04,0,6035066.story?coll=la-home-local Stark Beauty, Solitude, Squalor and Sulfur – Trona Has It All], ''The Los Angeles Times'', October 4, 2006, ''Accessed December 28, 2006''.
3. "'Sledgehammer' video director explains Rihanna's space witch character".
4. Fogarty, Paul. (2020-02-28). "Three crazy facts about Lady Gaga's Stupid Love video - costume design, iPhone camera, filming location!".
5. "Phoebe Bridgers ‘Can’t Believe’ A Fan Found The Original Location From The ‘Punisher’ Album Art".