20 Attractions to Explore Near Calico Ghost Town

Peggy Sue's is an original roadside Diner, built in 1954 with 9 counter stools and 3 booths. It sets in on the shadow of the Calico Mountains and was built from railroad ties and mortar from the nearby Union Pacific Rail yard.

The Western America Railroad Museum is a fun visit if you are in Barstow. The Museum is dedicated to sharing the history of railroading in the Pacific Southwest. It features both indoor and outdoor displays and is popular with railroad enthusiasts. Indoor displays include timetables, uniforms and other railroad memorabilia. Several locomotives and rail cars are located outside.

Rainbow Basin is a geological formation in the Calico Peaks range, located approximately 8 miles north of Barstow in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino. It has been designated a National Natural Landmark and is in the Bureau of Land Management. The basin is notable for: the fantastic and beautiful shapes of its rock formations: its fossil beds, which have provided scientists with valuable information about life during the middle Miocene epoch.

Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch is a landmark on the former Route 66 at Oro Grande. The large-scale sculptures - installation of bottle-tipped metal scaffolding - erected here on private property is referred to as folk art. The facility is a "historical landmark" known far beyond the region. It addresses the resource consumption of the throw-away society .

Deep Creek Hot Springs are natural hot springs located in the northern Mojave Desert . They are in a large bouldered riparian zone, surrounded by a rich habitat ecotone of the xeric shrublands.

The Big Bear Discovery Center is Located on the North shore with spectacular views of the Lake & local Ski Resorts. The center's goals are to help visitors enjoy and be more knowledgeable about the San Bernardino National Forest, including its recreational opportunities and natural history, and to teach visitors how to be stewards of the beauty and natural resources in the national forest and San Bernardino Mountains.

A beautiful reservoir in the San Bernardino Mountains. It is a completely snow-fed lake, having no other means of tributaries or mechanical replenishment. This Lake provides an attractive setting for many outdoor activities, including fishing (trout, bluegill, crappie, catfish and largemouth bass), pleasure boating, and water skiing.

Snow Summit is a ski resort that was established in 1952 in San Bernardino county. It is also one of the larger ski areas in Southern California and is considered to be one of the most popular skis and snowboard destinations for patrons from around the Los Angeles area.

Big Bear Mountain Resort offers the best skiing and snowboarding experiences in Southern California at Snow Summit and Bear Mountain. It is also an alpine oasis for outdoor adventurers near Los Angeles in the summer, featuring plenty of family-friendly options like mountain biking, hiking, and base area activities, with discounts available for kids and seniors.

The San Bernardino Mountain ski resorts are northeast of Los Angeles and only a two hour drive from the beach. Bear Mountain is the most popular of the resorts for boarders while Snow Summit attracts more skiers. Since establishing the first freestyle park in the early 1990s, Bear Mountain has continued to be a leading innovator in freestyle ski and snowboarding, along with terrain park building.

The World's Tallest Thermometer is a landmark in Baker, California, US. It is a steel electric sign that commemorates the weather record of 134 °F recorded in nearby Death Valley on July 10, 1913. It stands 134 feet tall and is capable of displaying a maximum temperature of 134 °F (57 °C), both of which are a reference to the temperature record.

Rim Nordic Ski Area is located in the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California. It offers Cross Country Skiing and Snow Shoeing, summer activities include Mountain Bike Racing. Features include 12 miles of groomed trails, Lots of off trail snow shoeing, Machine groomed, track set for classic and skating, Learn-to-ski beginner package, Telemark rentals and lessons, Snowshoe rentals, Demo and skating rentals available.

Snow Valley Mountain Resort is a ski resort located in Running Springs, California. It is the oldest continually operating ski resort in Southern California and is also one of four ski resorts in the San Bernardino National Forest. It has a total of 13 functioning lifts.

Heaps Peak Arboretum has a diverse collection of mostly native trees, shrubs, wildflowers and other plants. It was Located on State Highway 18 west of the community of Skyforest. The star of the trail is a planted grove of sequoiadendron giganteum, or what us non-Latin speakers call giant sequoias. Sequoia Trail offers insights on other trees, like quaking aspen, incense cedar, dogwoods, firs, and several varieties of pine.

The Integratron is a 38 feet tall cupola structure with a diameter of 55 feet designed by ufologist and contactee George Van Tassel. The Integratron machine was started in 1957, the structure erected in 1959. It was financed predominantly by donations, including funds from Howard Hughes.

Silverwood Lake is a large reservoir in San Bernardino County, California, United States, located on the West Fork Mojave River, a tributary of the Mojave River in the San Bernardino Mountains. It features picnicking, hiking trails, swimming beaches, and designated areas for boating, water-skiing and fishing.

SkyPark at Santa's Village is an Outdoor Adventure Park with year-round mountain biking, hiking, fly fishing and open air activities in the Skyforest section of Lake Arrowhead, California. The Park resides on 230-acre of natural forest with meadowlands, ponds and an apple orchard. At the core of SkyPark is The Village, which includes historic log cabin restaurants and shops, seasonal entertainment, and open-air activities.

The Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area is one of many California State Parks features picnicking, hiking trails, swimming beaches, and designated areas for boating, water-skiing and fishing.The Pacific Crest Trail, "the jewel in the crown of America's scenic trails" spanning 2,650 mi from Mexico to Canada through three western states, passes through the Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area, with trailheads for short or long hikes

Lake Gregory stands amid a cool cedar and pine forest in the San Bernardino Mountains. The lake and the surrounding area make up the Lake Gregory Regional Park adjacent to Crestline, California. Today, the Lake Gregory Recreational Park with swimming and water slides is at the west end of the lake and a walking trail encircles the lake. The south shore of the lake is a popular fishing destination. The regional park is the site of Crestline's Independence Day celebration.

The Trona Pinnacles are a unique geological features in the California Desert Conservation Area. The unusual landscape consists of more than 500 tufa spires, some as high as 140 feet, rising from the bed of the Searles Dry Lake basin. The Trona Pinnacles were designated a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1968 to preserve one of North America’s most outstanding examples of tufa tower formation.