Abandoned Overview
A postwar town built for one mine
Eagle Mountain is a postwar town that emptied in the 1980s. Kaiser Steel founded it in 1948 at its iron mine on the southeastern corner of what is now Joshua Tree National Park, to supply ore to its steel works at Fontana. At its height about 4,000 people lived here, in more than 400 houses plus trailer spaces, boarding houses and dormitories. Like other Kaiser operations, it had its own company medical care. Wikipedia calls this the genesis of Kaiser Permanente, but the health plan is older than the town. Kaiser Permanente traces its roots to the Depression and the wartime shipyards, and opened its plan to the public in 1945.
Foreign competition and environmental rules cut output in the 1970s. Kaiser announced the closure in November 1981, the grocery store shut in 1982, and the mine, mill and post office closed in 1983. The town emptied, though an elementary school outside the fence went on serving families in the area.
Since then the site has been a prison, a proposed Los Angeles landfill and a proposed pumped-storage power plant. The prison closed in 2003 after a fatal riot, and the landfill plan was dropped in 2013. In April 2023 the land and mine sold for $22.5 million to Ecology Mountain Holdings, which hasn't said what it plans. The town is fenced and guarded.
Video
Eagle Mountain in 30 seconds
Kaiser Steel's iron-mine town: the concrete ruins of its works, a row of arches, abandoned track and the fenced company town below the tailings.
Timeline
From iron town to empty streets
- Kaiser Steel founds a company town at its Eagle Mountain iron mine, which had belonged to the Southern Pacific Railroad. Ore goes to Kaiser's steel works at Fontana.
- The town grows to about 4,000 people, with more than 400 homes plus trailer spaces, boarding houses and dormitories.
- Environmental rules and foreign competition cut output. The population falls below 2,000 by the late 1970s.
- Kaiser announces the mine will close.
- The grocery store closes in 1982. The post office, mine and mill close in 1983. Sources differ on the last high-school class: June 1983 or 1987.
- The old shopping center reopens as a privately run minimum-security prison. A plan to turn the mine pits into a Los Angeles landfill is proposed the same year.
- The prison closes after state budget problems and a riot that left two inmates dead.
- After years of lawsuits and delays, the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts drop the landfill plan.
- NextEra Energy joins Eagle Crest Energy's plan for a 1,300-megawatt pumped-storage plant in the mine pits.
- Ecology Mountain Holdings buys the land and mine for $22.5 million. Its plans haven't been made public.
- A travel report says the town is fenced, guarded against trespassers and can't legally be visited.
What's left
What's there
The town is a grid of postwar houses on curving streets, laid out below the terraced tailings of the iron mine. The former shopping center that became the prison and the school buildings stand on the same ground, and the mine's open pits lie in the mountains above the town. The mine ruins are often used as a film location for post-apocalyptic scenes.
The USGS sheets in the next section show the change. The 1943 sheet has only a mine symbol and dirt roads. By the 1963 sheet the Eagle Mountain Mine sits north of a town grid with a high school, a tailings pond and a landing strip.
- Company houses (more than 400 built)
- School buildings
- Former shopping center and prison
- Mine pits and tailings
Historic maps
Eagle Mountain on USGS maps, 1943–1963
Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.
Map & directions
Getting there
Eagle Mountain lies north of I-10 between Indio and Blythe. Kaiser Road, County Route R2, leaves CA 177 and runs about 11 miles north toward the town, which is fenced and gated. The routes are shown for orientation only. There's no public access.
Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.
- Head east on Indio Boulevard and Golf Center Parkway to I-10.1.7 mi
- Take I-10 east.47.0 mi
- Exit and turn left onto Rice Road, CA 177.0.5 mi
- Turn left onto Kaiser Road, County Route R2, toward the town gate.11.4 mi
- From downtown, take I-10 east past Indio.175 mi
- Exit and turn left onto Rice Road, CA 177.0.5 mi
- Turn left onto Kaiser Road, County Route R2, toward the town gate.11.4 mi
Road and safety notes
- The town and mine are private, fenced and patrolled. There's nothing to see up close without permission.
- Summers here are very hot. Desert Center, on I-10, has few services.
- The site sits at the southeastern corner of Joshua Tree National Park. The park's own roads and rules apply there.
Photos
Eagle Mountain in photos
Visitor reports
Been to Eagle Mountain?
Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.
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Nearby
Other sites near Eagle Mountain
Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our California index.
Sources
Sources and credits
- ghosttowns.com, "Eagle Mountain": fact sheet fields (roads, climate, remains), and undated reader notes that the town is gated, locked and fenced.
- Islands (June 11, 2025): the town can't legally be visited, security is tight, staff patrol against trespassers, and the elementary school sits outside the fenced area.
- Wikipedia, "Eagle Mountain, California", retrieved October 2026: founding, population, company medical care, closures, prison, landfill, pumped storage, 2023 sale, school, Kaiser Road.
- Kaiser Permanente, "Our history": roots in the Depression and the wartime shipyards, plan opened to the public on July 21, 1945.
- Center for Land Use Interpretation, "Eagle Mountain Mine": Fontana steel works, minimum-security prison, 2003 riot deaths, landfill candidates, film use.
- Secret Los Angeles (August 6, 2026): more than 400 homes, boarding houses and dormitories, under 2,000 people by the late 1970s, the November 1981 closure announcement, the last high-school class in June 1983.
- Coordinates: Wikipedia (from USGS GNIS). Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.
Photo and map credits
- The abandoned company town below the tailings of the Kaiser mine: el-toro, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Concrete ruins of the Kaiser works, December 2015: el-toro, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- A row of concrete arches at Eagle Mountain, 2015: el-toro, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Topo map, area base map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
- Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Coxcomb Mountains 1943, 1:62,500; Salton Sea 1954, 1:250,000; Coxcomb Mountains 1963, 1:62,500.