California City, CA

Hidden in California’s high desert are the remnants of what many once hoped would be America’s next great city. It was to be 130,000 acres, with 7 districts of sprawling infrastructure… a new, grander Las Vegas in the middle of the Mojave desert. But, after a developmental disaster, it is now America’s largest abandoned city.

What is California City?

California City is the city that could have been. It was promised to be the next big American metropolis…but something happened… We’ll tell you about our experience there below.

Why is California city abandoned?

David Mendhelsen, a real estate mogul, had a vision of a grand city in the desert, similar to Las Vegas. He snatched up land in the Mojave desert and developed roadway and plumbing. But, after a misleading ad campaign and a series of lawsuits, the land was sold to a mining company and never developed. Thus resulting in America’s largest abandoned city.

Our Experience

California City had been on our list of places to explore since we started doing research for “Off the Cuff,” and after getting scheduled for another shoot in the Mojave desert, it was finally our time to check it out. However, from the ground, it looks quite different…

It wasn’t until we took the drone up that we really got a sense of the scope of this landscape. The endless undeveloped roadways go on and on and on and on and on. There are water pipes and street signs with named roads but not much else. From the ground, most of what can be seen are sage bushes, countless ant hills and the occasional sketchy looking abandoned commune.

We continued to get footage from the sky until we decided to get to some high ground ourselves. There was a hill in the distance so we decided to take the dirt roads to it. On the way we had multiple close calls running into jack rabbits which caused some car drifting. We then hiked up to the top of the hill in the dreaded energy draining heat.

From the top of the hill, we got a little bit of a better sense for the vastness of California City. The roads seemed to never end. It wasn’t until later that we researched the fascinating history of how this became America’s largest abandoned city. Turns out, David Mendhelson, who was a real estate mogul, had a dream to build a city in the middle of the desert so he began development and churned out misleading advertisements to the surrounding urban areas like San Diego and Los Angeles. This method proved unsuccessful as he was subsequently flooded with lawsuits. This didn’t stop him from selling the land to a mining company who, for some reason, still believed in this city.

How big is California City?

Today, California City is the 3rd largest city in California, in terms of land mass. It IS growing steadily in population. There is a maximum security prison, a golf course, and a Mexican restaurant. Source

Will California city ever be truly built?

There are currently no major development plans. However, individuals can purchase property in California City, CA for relatively inexpensive prices.

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