RURAL CALIFORNIA THROUGH THE LENS · SEARLES VALLEY NEWS
TRONA, Calif. — The dirt football field is one of the stops in Fiesta Adventures’ 2023 tour of Trona. In November 2026, Trona’s school district is posting about the Tornadoes’ football playoffs. The field connects two views of the same place: what someone passing through finds unusual and what families in Searles Valley put on the calendar.
The turn the tour missed
Fiesta Adventures lists vacant homes, earthquake damage, the mineral plant, the cemetery, a railroad loop and the school football field among its stops. On the local history site Trona on the Web, David Stevens welcomed the drone footage as a chance to revisit Trona from afar and pointed out that the route missed Pioneer Point. A commenter, Martha Becerra, argued that it overlooked people still caring for their homes and community. Another commenter, a 1957 Trona High graduate, remembered people from Argus, Trona and Pioneer Point following the same school teams.
That geography matters. San Bernardino County’s community guide describes a cluster of settlements with a shared mining history. Searles Valley News covers them together, including Argus, Pioneer Point and South Trona. A visitor’s route can leave out whole parts of the community.
Before the earthquakes: the railroad and the plant
Mark Clay McGowan published his tour in February 2019, before that summer’s earthquakes. His description uses the railroad and the mineral plant to explain why the town grew here.
An earlier road trip through Trona
Wonderhussy Adventures’ 2017 video emphasizes vacant buildings and the atmosphere of a first visit. Those choices show how differently two visitors can frame the same town.
Trona in the weeks after the 2019 earthquakes
Mark Clay McGowan’s tour predates the earthquakes. Ray Dunakin filmed Trona about three weeks afterward. His aerial footage and images of damage provide a dated record between the earlier tour and Fiesta Adventures’ later visit. Geographer William Selby places the footage in the context of the valley’s geology.
What residents are dealing with in 2026
The school is one place to start. This newspaper reported that students entered the replacement Trona High School campus in January. The district’s November updates include football playoffs, elementary-school spirit days and a governing-board vacancy notice. The same school that appears as a landmark in a road-trip video is part of the valley’s weekly routine.
Then there is the work that rarely makes a road-trip video. San Bernardino County’s Public Works department says its water and sanitation staff presented a proposed sewer rate plan to Searles Valley’s County Service Area 82 in 2026 and took residents’ questions. That discussion is part of what it takes to maintain services in a remote community.
Another stop in the valley in 2026 was the Searles Valley Senior Center, where this newspaper covered Election Day in Trona. Together with the school and the county service district, it gives readers a way to locate the civic life that a driving tour can pass by.
How housing became part of Trona’s online story
In July 2026, Cali Price Shock framed Trona around the asking price of a home. The creator promotes a paid guide in the video description. For local context on what it takes to live here, see our reporting on housing, utilities and services in Searles Valley.
More from Searles Valley News
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The local response to the Fiesta Adventures video is available at Trona on the Web. If you live in Trona, Argus, Pioneer Point or South Trona, what would you show someone who had one afternoon to understand the valley? Tell Searles Valley News.
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