Trona Pinnacles

There are two main ways to access the Trona Pinnacles. The best choice for casual visitors is to head along State Route 178 about 20 miles east of Ridgecrest, and just on the southwest edge of the town of Trona. There, a Bureau of Land Management sign will mark the turn-off onto Pinnacles Road/RM143, and the pinnacles themselves are almost exactly 5.0 miles to the south. Although this road is often passable by two-wheel-drive passenger vehicles, there may be washboarding, mud, and/or deep ruts on the road during wet weather, and the final parking area is beyond a gravel portion of the road that is situated on a steep incline. 

A more challenging route for experienced off-highway drivers is to take Route 395 to either Trona Road or Searles Station Cutoff, and head north-northeast until reaching Pinnacles Road/RM143, and from there drive 20–25 miles east and northeast to the Pinnacles. Since there is an extensive network of dirt roads in the region marked only by wooden signposts, an up-to-date and detailed topographic map is strongly recommended. There is one vault toilet and no running water or camper/RV hookups in the main parking area. The nearest food, water, and fuel is available in the town of Trona. One of the town's two gas stations was heavily damaged in the July 2019 earthquake swarm, so only one gas station remains open as of 2020.