Randsburg, CA. The gold camp that never quite left.

Randsburg is in eastern Kern County, in the Rand Mountains of the Mojave Desert, just off US 395. Two neighbors make up the Rand district:

• Johannesburg: the supply town next door, founded in 1896, also in Kern County.
• Red Mountain: on US 395 on the San Bernardino County line, founded as Osdick in 1919.

Randsburg addresses use ZIP code 93554; Johannesburg uses 93528. Ridgecrest is the nearest larger town, to the north.

• From Pahrump: about 209 miles, south on CA 127 and I-15, roughly three hours and twenty minutes.
• From Las Vegas: about 219 miles by I-15 south, roughly three hours and twenty minutes.
• From Los Angeles: about 160 miles, CA 14 north, CA 58 east and US 395 north for the last 30 miles, roughly two hours and forty minutes.

Drive times are from Google Maps on October 1, 2026, rounded.

Road closures

As of October 1, 2026, Kern County lists Redrock-Randsburg Road closed between Highway 14 and US 395 for storm damage, with no reopening date. Garlock Road between Redrock-Randsburg Road and US 395 is closed to through traffic. Come in on US 395.

In April 1895, Singleton, Burcham and Mooers found gold on the slope that became the Yellow Aster mine, also called the Rand. Randsburg grew up around it almost overnight. Johannesburg followed in 1896 as the supply town. Both names come from the Rand gold district of South Africa.

The district kept finding things: tungsten at Atolia in 1907, and silver at Red Mountain’s California Rand Silver Mine in 1919. Today the mines are quiet, but people still live here, and Butte Avenue still has a bar, a museum and old storefronts. That is why it gets called a living ghost town.

The state landmark plaque for the Rand Mining District is at the Rand Desert Museum on Butte Avenue.

Rand Desert Museum

Mining, the towns and the people of the Rand district, plus the town jail and the Rand District Cemetery in Johannesburg. Open Saturday and Sunday, 11 AM to 2 PM, and by appointment.

The Joint

The bar on Butte Avenue, open since 1955 and run by the Shotwell family. Thursday through Sunday, 11 AM to midnight, with food vendors on weekends.

The Vault and the General Store

The Vault Burgers & Beer is on Butte Avenue, and the Randsburg General Store has moved out of its old building and into The Vault.

Fuel

Gas is at the Texaco in Johannesburg.

Old West Days is the town’s September festival, put on by the Rand Desert Museum: a pancake breakfast from 8 to 10 AM, a parade at 10, and a car show from the Randsburg Rod Shop, running until 4 PM. The 2026 event was September 19. The 2027 date is not posted yet.

• The Cottage Hotel: built in 1930, four rooms and two cabins on the east edge of town, with breakfast, a courtyard, a fire pit and a pool table. Pets $25.
• The Joint’s boarding houses: two cabins, Hunters and Cactus, $150 a night, in the old General Store building.
• The Randsburg Inn: its website rents whole units, but Google Maps lists it as permanently closed.

Camping

Jawbone Canyon allows primitive camping, up to 14 days, with no fees. Red Rock Canyon State Park’s Ricardo Campground has 50 first-come, first-served primitive sites at $25 a night; Kern County lists its access road, Abbott Drive, as closed.

Since March 24, 2026, a federal court order has closed West Mojave BLM routes in desert tortoise critical habitat to off-highway recreation, and that includes street-legal bikes ridden for fun. On BLM’s closure map, Randsburg sits inside that habitat and the routes around town are marked closed.

Spangler Hills, Jawbone Canyon and Dove Springs are still open. The closure, the Rand Mountains permit and the sticker rules are on our Randsburg OHV page.

Long-term averages from the Randsburg weather station:

• January: highs around 54°F, lows around 36°F.
• July: highs around 98°F, lows around 69°F.
• All year: about 6 inches of rain and 3 inches of snow.

Fall through spring is the time to come. Summer is hot.