Calico Ghost Town Regional Park: California's Silver-Rush Town

Calico was born in 1881 when silver strikes drew miners into the colorful clay hills near present-day Yermo, and for a little over a decade it thrived as a classic Old West mining town. When silver lost its value in the mid-1890s, the population drained away and Calico became a ghost town, its wooden buildings left to the desert sun.

Its second life began in the 1950s, when Walter Knott — who had once worked in the area — purchased Calico and restored it, architecturally rebuilding most of the town while preserving the five original buildings that had survived. The state recognized the site as California Historical Landmark 782, and in 2005 it was proclaimed 'California's Silver Rush Ghost Town.' It now operates within the San Bernardino County Regional Parks system.

For RV travelers, Calico's location is hard to beat: it sits just off Interstate 15 between Southern California and Las Vegas, making it an easy, well-serviced break on a long desert drive. The townsite is compact and walkable, with restored shops and mining exhibits, so you can park, explore on foot, and be back on the road the same day.